Amongst others, Federico García Lorca, Dámaso Alonso, Luis Cernuda and Pedro Salinas were a part of the great Generation of ’27. This name pays homage to the third centennial commemoration of Luis de Góngora, where this group first formally met and laid the foundations for their intellectual movement. The range of members in the group makes it arduous to define an obvious stylistic focus, due to their personal literary trajectories. However, they were all poetic by nature, and generally influenced by the various movements occurring in the Europe at the time, such as Surrealism and Futurism. Displaying the influence of Góngora, they tended towards metaphorical language, neologisms, and conspicuous descriptions. There was blunt experimentation in this era of poetry which dominated the 1920s through to 1940s, rejecting traditional poetic characteristics of the time, such as highly logical explanations, in favour of the symbolism that Góngora so preferred. Their contrast can be seen both in the prose of the preceding Generation of ’98, and in the subsequent literature during and after the Spanish Civil War, due to the unfavourable circumstances for left-wing intellectuals. This group cultivated diversity in genres and writing styles, loosely being referred to as avant-garde with respect to their efforts to bridge the gap between folklore and popular culture.
Lorca is perhaps the most well-known poet of this generation for his poetry collections “Canciones”, “Romancero gitano”, and his play “La casa de Bernada Alba”. The first poem in “Romancero gitano” is titled “Ballad of the Moon, Moon”, and it gives an immediate taste of the naturalistic imagery which can be expected later in the book. The symbolism of the moon can be linked to Roman and Greek mythology, allowing Lorca to augment with a quality of modernisation, as the moon takes on the role of cautioning the little boy. The gypsies are intertwined in the storytelling to represent the Andalusian culture and the idea of man with natural instincts. The sensory imagery also forebodes death through the sound of hooves pounding along the ground, overriding the purity of the moon. There is a clear depiction of nature as a calming and positive force, in contrast to humanity, which can either be seen as part of the naturalism or as a marring presence. “Romancero gitano” was applauded with astronomical success in Spain, as readers were gripped by the almost fantastical seeming world inspired by traditional romance ballads. Whilst this remains true, and in a sense this collection was an ode to medieval poetry, there is no mistaking the brazen contemporary elements of intelligent wit. Lorca’s close relationship with Salvador Dalí was also prevalent in his work, such as “Oda a Salvador Dalí”, in which he celebrates the Surrealist movement and the boundaries that Dalí pushed in his art. The personality in the poem is evident and enough is demonstrated in the fact that Lorca never showed such affection to anyone else in his writing. Lorca was shot and killed in August 1936 when he was imprisoned by the Nationalist forces due to their abhorrence of his liberal expression, a martyr of the Generation of ’27.
Dámaso Alonso deserves credit for exalting the work of Góngora, foregrounding the mastery that inspired this generation of poets. He published an edition of “Soledades” in 1927 and an essay titled “La lengua poética de Góngora” in 1935, both of which are the basis of the audacious vocabulary that formed a powerful trend. Aside from his literary critique, his poetry makes use of language devices that permit a perspective of duality on reality which pervades his earlier works and those which were influenced by the Spanish Civil War. He strives for the reconciliation of this conceptual critic and intuitive poet in “El viento y el verso”. He portrays a commonplace clash between religion and existentialism in life and death, whilst the wind holds multiple significances of temporality and naturalism to name just two. This can be seen more specifically in “Puertociego de la mar”, where despite its lyrical power, the symbolism of the wind is that it can disperse into all aspects of reality, yet somehow it can still be decimated by a rock, a purport of the dilemmas of coexistence. In “Viaje”, the water lies as an intermediary between life and death. This is possibly due to its fluid and transitional nature in comparison to the other natural elements, suggesting various interconnections between the two different realms of being. The focus on country landscapes can easily be likened to Góngora’s fascination with simplistic earthly beauty. Finally, “Hijos de la ira” 1944 encompasses the most modernist of techniques by building on past literature and details a traumatic period of Spanish history with the socioeconomic crises the country faced following the Spanish Civil War. There is also significance in Alonso needing to write around the censorship of the dictatorship, as he is having to allude to devastating subject matter without complete transparency as to not uncover his internal anguish and resent towards the regime.
Pedro Salinas, born in 1891, was slightly older that many of the poets of the Generation of ’27. On the contrary to Alonso, it seems that he has taken more inspiration from the Conceptismo movement rather than Culteranismo. In “Navecerrada, abril”, he develops a riddling technique which becomes central in much of his later work. However, just as Góngora’s “La dulce boca” gives an initial deception of a love poem, Salinas employs this same technique as he begins the poem by noting the duality of the two characters. Once us readers believe we have reached the climax of the storytelling, and we are about to witness the fireworks of true love, Salinas utilises a change of rhythm and influx of grammatical stops to evoke an equal but opposite reaction. Suddenly, it is possible to view the first half of the poem from an unforeseen angle, in which the two characters being alone is simply an ironically intimate reunion. Although he would not typically be considered as futuristic in his style, Salinas is surprising here with such modern devices and wit, especially in the final line where he reveals that the poem was in fact dedicated to his car. The polysemy this is reflecting is an undeniably Conceptismo trait and emphasises how even though it was Góngora who brought this generation together, it was richness of literature in the Golden Age that continued to keep this style alive. Furthermore, Salinas differs from Lorca and Alonso in that he was born in Madrid and so is arguably more appreciative of urban settings in his works than his contemporaries. He appreciates nuanced detail which often tend to be found in the crowdedness of an urban scene rather than the openness located in the country. Whilst many have divided Salinas’ works into three phases, these elements are representative of what permeates through all of it.
Whilst many of the Generation of ’27 are also known for works other than poetry, such as critical essays and drama, Luis Cernuda was a fiercely dedicated poet, with every other post he held being incidental to poetry. Cernuda was greatly influenced by the lack of constraints in the Surrealist movement. “Un río, un amor” 1929 can be seen as a turning point in his career, where he abandoned traditional rhyming patterns and metrical schemes to explore the idea of ‘free verse’. In “¿Son todos felices?”, we can further understand why the Surrealist movement appealed to him, as concepts of honour and patriotism seem worthless, and create a state of misery, which begs the question as to why they are valued. It is a protest against societal conformation and likens life, in accordance with all rules and merely going through the motions, to death. This theme prevails in much of his later work due to the relevance of the Spanish Civil War, particularly in “Las nubes” 1937-40. “El ruiseñor sobre la piedra” depicts a dichotomised view of Spain, in which the destroyed idealised version of Spain that Cernuda connects with, runs parallel to a country now wrecked by war. It highlights a physical exile, as Cernuda had to spend an unintended prolonged period in Britain and France from 1935, because it was unsafe for him to return to Spain in that unwelcoming political climate. However, Cernuda deepens this theme of exile to a feeling of detachment for a lonely soul. This sense of alienation intensifies in his later poetry with an air of such melancholy calm, that he seems to be living life in the same way he rejected in “¿Son todos felices?”. It is a sad development in which we see Cernuda start to become isolated and embittered towards the end of his life.
In accordance with the great literature of the time, this was also a period for artistic innovation. As mentioned, Dalí was prominent in these years, alongside Oscar Dominguez and Maruja Mallo. In the film industry, Luis Buñuel was another notable figure. This movement took place following a period of constitutional monarchy from 1875-1923, and during the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera 1923-30 and the Second Republic 1931-36. This explains the lugubrious tone of the Generation of ’98, which was a characteristic ‘fin de siécle’ trait, due to their distrust of the political system which allowed electoral manipulation and corruption. However, economically, and lengthwise, this generation lived in relative stability in comparison to the ’27. Primo de Rivera ruled with little success, resulting in an economic recession and loss of support from both the army and king. In 1930, as he was forced into resignation, the monarchy was also overthrown, and 1931 elections showed the overwhelming Republican support in major cities. This created a far more promotive atmosphere for literary innovation, and moreover we often see great artistic movements flourish during times of political turbulence, because of the inspiration provided in change. There was widespread politicisation of the Generation of ’27 in support of the new Republic, and therefore they moved towards poetry with more of a social commentary. Yet, the term of “literary generation” has been widely criticised because this group lack in some of the criteria, such as shared stylistic tendencies, and more specific historical motivations. Despite this, one could argue that it is this assortment of eclecticism that truly embodies this group’s artistic and literary production. From their modernist standpoint, the Generation of ’27 reject these opinions of the necessity of commonality, and counter it with their enthusiastic optimism for the possibility of objectivity. The Spanish Civil War demobilised the movement, but this makes it all the more poignant.
To conclude, whichever appellation one chooses to dedicate to this group, it is irrefutable that they have had a profound impact on Spanish literature. In summary of their collective works, they founded a previously unthought of balance between contradictions, such as tradition and innovation, and aestheticism against authenticity. Their lack of homogeneity is not a flaw, because the synthesis of their individual compositions is what has left a mark as the richest moment in history for Spanish poetry. Exploring classical themes such as love, death, beauty and fate was a refreshing step away from the Generation of ’98, who were far more damning of their times. The work of Góngora is an evident influence in any poetry of the Generation of ’27, with a modern twist and appreciation for the expressionistic Baroque style. The tumultuous years prior to the Spanish Civil War are echoed in their shift in perspective, as it became necessary to encapsulate the social unrest of time as well. This war dispersed the members of the movement, with many either executed or sent into exile, and the last surviving member of the Generation of ’27 died in 2009 after spending years exiled to Argentina and Puerto Rico. In spite of the devastating way in which their artistic movement ended, they left behind timeless pieces that can be perceived for their linguistic abundance and complex subject matter. It exists few and far in even global history to discover such a prodigious constellation of writers and artistry, clarifying why the Generation of ’27 is so highly esteemed.
By Ishyka Ahluwalia