Generation of '27

Introduction

• Name given to a group of writers who gathered in 1927 to celebrate the fifth centenary of Luis de Góngora.
• Indisputable members: Pedro Salinas, Jorge Guillén, Vicente Aleixandre, Luis Cernuda, Gerardo Diego, Federico García Lorca, Rafael Alberti.
• Other members: Damaso Alonso, Juan José Domenchina, Emilio Prados, Manuel Altolaguirre, and Miguel Hernández.

Characteristics of the Generation of '27

• Two main stages: dehumanization in the 1920s and rehumanization in the 1930s.
• According to Luis Cernuda: pure poetry, classicist attitude, contact with surrealism, and rehumanization.

Pure Poetry

• Eliminate everything that is not poetry.
• Interest in creating a new reality using images and metaphors.

Classicist Attitude

• Interest in classic works: Cid, traditional lyric, songbooks, medieval and Golden Age works.
• Admiration for Luis de Góngora: technique, hermeticism, and transformative artistry.

Contact with Surrealism

• Members denied affiliation, but visible influences.
• Examples:
  • Vicente Aleixandre: “Passion of the Earth” and “Destruction or Love”.
  • Rafael Alberti: “About the Angels”.
  • Federico García Lorca: “Poet in New York”.
  • Luis Cernuda: “The Forbidden Pleasures”.

Rehumanization

• Context: Second Republic, influence of Hispanic-American poets (César Vallejo, Pablo Neruda).
• Luis Cernuda: manifesto “On an Impure Poetry”.
• Focus on committed and accessible literature for the general public.
• Place the human being and their problems at the center of literary production.

Metrical Resources

• Importance of image and metaphor.
• Use of free verse and reduction of metrics.
• Rhythm based on the repetition of sound elements, ideas, words, and structures.

Playwrights

• Generation of '27 also includes playwrights like Casona, Max Aub, Jardiel Poncela, and Mihura.
• Mission: bring theater closer to the people.

Theatrical Companies

• “La Barraca”, founded by Lorca.
• “Teatro del Pueblo”, directed by Casona.
• Varied repertoire: classic works and new creations.

Ramón del Valle-Inclán

• Important author before the civil war.
• Pioneer in theater and novel.
• Introduction of the concept of the grotesque: aesthetic of innovation, highlighting the grotesque.
• Main works: “Bohemian Lights”, “Carnival Tuesdays”.

Commitment of the Generation of '27

• Committed theater aimed at the popular classes.

Relevant Authors and Works

• Rafael Alberti: “The Uninhabited Man”, “War Night at the Prado Museum”, “The Eyesore”.
• Miguel Hernández: “The Farmer with More Air”.
• Pedro Salinas: “Judith and the Tyrant”, “The Director”.
• Alejandro Casona: “The Lady of the Dawn”, “Once Again the Devil”, “Our Natacha”.
• Max Aub: “Crime”, “Mirror of Greed”.
• Federico García Lorca:
  • First stage: farces (“The Shoemaker’s Prodigious Wife”, “The Butterfly’s Evil Spell”).
  • Avant-garde works: (“When Five Years Pass”, “The Public”).
  • Tragedies: rural and feminine environment (“Blood Wedding”, “The House of Bernarda Alba”).

Renewal of Comic Theater

• Jardiel Poncela and Miguel Mihura.

Consequences of the Civil War

• Death of Lorca and exile of other members.
• New poetic cycle in exile, marked by pain and uprooting.