Comprehensive Study Notes on 20th and 21st Century Spanish and Hispano-American Literature

Rafael Alberti: Dramatist and Poet

Rafael Alberti ($1902-1999$) was a versatile figure within the Generation of $1927$, cultivating both poetry and theater with significant acclaim. His dramatic output produced several works, with two being particularly representative of the period's theatrical landscape. The first is El hombre deshabitado, defined as a vanguardist auto sacramental that explores the themes of human creation, temptation, and the fall. The second is Fermín Galán, a cornerstone of political theater from the $1930$s. Based on a real event that took place in $1930$, this work was written in support of the proclamation of a new Spanish Republic.

In his poetic career, Alberti demonstrated a mastery of various themes, tones, and styles, drawing from diverse sources such as folklore, vanguardism, and his own background in painting. His production is typically classified into three major stages. The first is poetry of a popular character, exemplified by his famous work Marinero en tierra, characterized by simple language, brief verses, and profound musicality. The second stage reflects surrealist influence, where metaphors and darker language prevail; Sobre los ángeles is the standout work here, using vanguardist techniques to express the author's spiritual crisis. The third stage is social poetry, reflecting his political commitment in works like El poeta en la calle. During his period of exile, Alberti combined this social concern with a nostalgic evocation of the past in Retornos de lo vivo lejano.

Las Sinsombrero: Intellectual Women of the Generation of $27$

The Generation of $1927$ was the first in Spanish literature to incorporate a large number of female artists and intellectuals. Recently, these women have been collectively designated as "Las Sinsombrero." The name stems from an incident where some of them decided to remove their hats in the middle of the street because they felt they were "congesting ideas," according to the painter Maruja Mallo. This group spanned various disciplines, including poets, painters, philosophers, playwrights, essayists, and politicians.

Key figures among the Sinsombrero include Concha Méndez ($1898-1986$), who wrote vanguardist and popular poems in Surtidor and Canciones de mar y tierra before turning to more melancholic tones following tragic experiences like the loss of a child and exile. Rosa Chacel ($1898-1994$) began in poetry but is best known for narrative works such as Barrio de Maravillas. María Teresa León ($1903-1998$) wrote committed plays, novels, and stories, with her autobiography Memoria de la melancolía being a highlight. María Zambrano ($1904-1991$) stands as a major $20$th-century Spanish philosopher, exploring the relationship between art and thought in Filosofía y poesía. Ernestina de Champourcin ($1905-1999$) showed the influence of Juan Ramón Jiménez in works like La voz en el viento and Cántico inútil. Finally, Josefina de la Torre ($1907-2002$) published Versos y estampas and Poemas de la isla between $1927$ and $1930$, utilizing simple forms, arte menor, and assonant rhyme to explore love, the sea, and the Canary Islands landscape.

Historical and Social Context of the $20$th and $21$st Centuries

The pivotal event for $20$th-century Spain was the Civil War. In $1936$, amid social conflict and economic crisis, Generals Sanjurjo, Mola, and Franco led a coup d'état that initiated the Spanish Civil War ($1936-1939$). The conflict concluded with the establishment of Francisco Franco's dictatorship. Following the defeat of Hitler and Mussolini in World War II ($1939-1945$), Spain faced international, economic, and cultural isolation. Culturally, the "censorship" period brought a sharp halt to the splendor of the early century; the death and exile of many writers, combined with forced silence, decimated literary production. The $1940$s and $1950$s were defined by economic crisis, poverty, and social inequality, leading some writers to adopt a critical, social-denunciation focus in their work. By the $1960$s, the country saw economic growth and social transformations driven by tourism, television, and cinema, causing a shift in mentalities and fostering experimentalism in art.

Following Franco's death in $1975$, Juan Carlos I was proclaimed king, beginning the Spanish Transition. Political parties were legalized, leading to elections in $1977$ and the Constitution of $1978$. The $1980$s marked a period of opening and Europeanization. Despite a failed coup attempt on $23$ February $1981$, Spain joined the European Economic Community (now the EU) in $1986$. The decade saw major reforms, including military restructuring, joining NATO, and legalizing divorce and abortion. However, this era was also marred by ETA terrorism and the "cultura del pelotazo," characterized by corruption. Social optimism in the $80$s birthed "La movida madrileña," a counter-cultural movement affecting music, film, and fashion. The year $1992$ closed the decade with the Barcelona Olympics and the Seville Universal Exposition.

Internationally, the end of the Cold War followed the fall of the Berlin Wall in $1989$ and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, leading into the era of globalization fueled by the internet and information technology. From the $1990$s to the present, Spain stabilized as a bipartisan system between the PSOE and PP. The $2008$ crisis led to the $15$-M "indignados" movement and new political parties. Significant recent milestones include the islamist attack on $11$ March $2004$, the legalization of same-sex marriage in $2005$, ETA's definitive abandonment of arms in $2011$, the proclamation of Felipe VI in $2014$, and the state of alarm for COVID-$19$ in $2020$. In literature, new technology favors a fragmentation and brevity, leading to the rise of flash fiction and "microteatro."

Post-War Poetry: From Arraigada to Social Poetry

The Civil War caused a traumatic rupture in Spanish culture. Literary magazines became the primary outlets in the $1940$s. "Arraigada" (rooted) poetry, promoted by magazines like Garcilaso and Escorial, was written by authors sympathetic to the regime. It focused on timeless, optimistic themes like family, religion, and love, using classic forms like the sonnet. Key authors include Leopoldo Panero, Dionisio Ridruejo, Luis Rosales, and José García Nieto. Leopoldo Panero’s poem A mis hermanas illustrates this style:

"Estamos siempre solos. Cae el viento / entre los encinares y la vega. / A nuestro corazón el ruido llega / del campo silencioso y polvoriento. / Alguien cuenta, sin voz, el viejo cuento / de nuestra infancia, y nuestra sombra juega / trágicamente a la gallina ciega: / y una mano nos coge el pensamiento. / Ángel, Ricardo, Juan, abuelo, abuela, / nos tocan levemente, y sin palabras / nos hablan, nos tropiezan, les tocamos. / Estamos siempre solos, siempre en vela, / esperando, Señor, a que nos abras / los ojos para ver, mientras jugamos!"

In contrast, "Desarraigada" (uprooted) poetry expression anguish before an inhospitable reality. Initiated by Dámaso Alonso with Hijos de la ira ($1944$), it used a nihilist perspective and heart-wrenching tone to discuss social misery and existential hostility. The magazine Espadaña was a key vehicle for this trend. Following this, Social Poetry emerged, using poetry as a tool to transform political reality and denounce inequality. Miguel Hernández ($1898-1942$) was a precursor with Viento del pueblo and El hombre acecha. Key post-war social poets include:

Blas de Otero ($1916-1979$): Moved from existential themes in Ángel fieramente humano to social themes in Pido la paz y la palabra.

Gabriel Celaya ($1911-1991$): Famous for declaring poetry is "an arm loaded with future" in works like Cantos iberos.

Ángela Figuera ($1902-1984$): Wrote Belleza cruel, expressing the "double defeat" of being a woman on the losing side of the war.

José Hierro ($1922-2002$): Traveled from social poetry in Quinta del 42 to a more irrational and enigmatic lyricism in Libro de las alucinaciones.

Other groups included the aestheticist "Grupo Cántico" ($1947$) and "Postismo," which aimed to reclaim imagination via the magazine La Cerbatana. Carmen Conde ($1907-1996$) also stood out as the first woman in the RAE, focusing on the theme of love.

The Generation of $50$ and the Novísimos

The Generation of $50$ viewed poetry as a means of knowledge and personal inquiry. Habitual themes included childhood, friendship, love, and the passage of time, treated with colloquial language and irony. Key figures include: Claudio Rodríguez ($1934-1999$), whose Don de la ebriedad uses rural resonances to celebrate life's beauty; Jaime Gil de Biedma ($1929-1990$), who used confession and irony in Las personas del verbo; José Ángel Valente ($1929-2000$), who transitioned from realism to reflecting on the essence of poetry in El fulgor; and Ángel González ($1925-2008$), who used humor and irony to critique societal hypocrisy in Palabra sobre palabra.

In $1970$, José María Castellet published the anthology Nueve novísimos poetas españoles, marking the start of the Novísimos. This generation broke with the past through experimentalism, formal perfection, and culturalist references (film, comics, foreign works). Pere Gimferrer is the most emblematic author. A fragment of his poem "Cascabeles" from Arde el mar shows his style:

"Maceración de lirios, el antiguo gran mundo / paseaba sus últimas carrozas / por los estanques que invadía el légamo. / Y en el aire flotaba ya un olor a velones, a cilicios, / a penitenciales ceras, a mea culpa, / a reivindicaciones / de inalienable condición humana."

The Evolution of the Post-War Novel

The novel of the $1950$s focused on social realism and the conflict between social classes. Formal traits included realism, objective focus, and the use of a collective protagonist. Representative works include Camilo José Cela’s La colmena ($1951$), which lacks a central hero to show the anonymous bitterness of post-war Madrid, and Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio’s El Jarama ($1956$), a paradigm of "objectivism" where the narrator records facts like a camera. The trivial dialogue in El Jarama captures the colloquial speech of the era, such as in this exchange:

"-Es imponente… / -Es de esas cosas que te pueden dar de pensar constantemente. / -Mañana lunes otra vez -dijo Sebas-. Tenemos una suerte todos estos días…"

By the $1960$s, the social novel's exhaustion led to the experimental novel. Characteristics included multiple points of view, destruction of linear time (flashbacks/anticipation), and syntactical rupture. Luis Martín-Santos ($1924-1964$) inaugurated this trend with Tiempo de silencio ($1962$), using interior monologues to reflect existential nonsense. Miguel Delibes ($1920-2010$) joined with Cinco horas con Mario ($1966$), where a woman, Carmen, delivers a monologue to her dead husband, Mario, contrasting conservative and liberal worldviews.

Post-War Theatre: Humor, Social, and Experimental

Post-war theater was shaped by censorship. In the $1940$s and $50$s, "Alta comedia" (bourgeois evasion) dominated. Enrique Jardiel Poncela and Miguel Mihura countered this with humorist theater. Jardiel Poncela ($1901-1952$) created the "theater of the implausible" in works like Eloísa está debajo de un almendro, which utilized absurd dialogue and proverbs:

"MARIDO. Cabal! Conque le abordé al Melecio… y le dije… y tú por un lao y yo por otro… Y qué le parece que hizo él? / AMIGO. El qué? / MARIDO. Pues contestarme con un refrán. / AMIGO. Que le contestó a usté con un refrán? / MARIDO. (Indignado). Con un refrán!"

Miguel Mihura ($1905-1977$) combined the absurd with existential reflection in Tres sombreros de copa. Antonio Buero Vallejo ($1916-2000$) initiated Social Theater, winning the Cervantes Prize in $1986$. His work evolved through three stages: existential drama (e.g., Historia de una escalera, $1949$), historical dramas to bypass censorship (e.g., El sueño de la razón), and explicit social critique with technical innovations (e.g., El tragaluz and La Fundación).

In the $1960$s, Experimental Theater emerged with authors like José Ruibal and Fernando Arrabal (Pic-nic), reducing characters to symbols and renewing stagecraft with mechanical objects. Independent theater groups like Els Joglars (Albert Boadella), Els Comediants, and La Fura dels Baus arose to challenge conventions through improvisation and visual spectacles.

Spanish Literature from $1975$ to the Present

Post-$1975$ literature abandoned experimentalism for a return to classical narrative patterns: argument-driven plots, linear development, and clear narrators. Eduardo Mendoza ($1943$) started this phase with La verdad sobre el caso Savolta ($1975$), mixing experimentalism with a police plot. He also excelled in parity (El misterio de la cripta embrujada) and realism (La ciudad de los prodigios). The period is marked by "Postmodernity," favoring genre-fusing (comics, film) and relativism.

Key narrative trends since $1975$ include:

• Novela policiaca: Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (Pepe Carvalho), Lorenzo Silva (Bevilacqua), and Dolores Redondo (Trilogía del Baztán).

• Novela histórica: Lourdes Ortiz (Urraca), Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Línea de fuego), and Almudena Grandes (Episodios de una guerra interminable).

• Novela intimista: Rosa Montero (El peligro de estar cuerda), Elvira Lindo, and Elena Medel.

• Novela testimonio: Javier Cercas (Soldados de Salamina) and Clara Usón.

• Autoficción: Francisco Umbral (Mortal y Rosa) and Manuel Vilas (Ordesa).

• Best sellers: María Dueñas (El tiempo entre costuras) and Julia Navarro.

Significant novelists include Enrique Vila-Matas, Javier Marías (Corazón tan blanco), and Antonio Muñoz Molina (El jinete polaco). Poetry also evolved, with the "Poetry of Experience" (Luis García Montero) dominating the $80$s with colloquial language. The $21$st century has seen the "Estética del fragmento" (Ana Merino), "Poesía ante la incertidumbre" (Fernando Valverde), and "Millennials" (Elvira Sastre).

Post-$1975$ theater benefited from institutional support (National Theaters) and the removal of bans on foreign authors like Brecht. Key playwrights include Fernando Fernán Gómez (Las bicicletas son para el verano), Francisco Nieva (aesthetic focus), José Sanchis Sinisterra (Ay, Carmela!), and Juan Mayorga (El chico de la última fila).

Hispano-American Literature of the $20$th Century

Hispano-American literature is a "culture of synthesis," blending pre-Columbian (Aztec, Maya, Inca), Spanish, African, and European immigrant influences. The $20$th century is its great era, starting with Modernism (Rubén Darío) and moving toward vanguardism and social realms.

Poetic currents included Modernism (Rubén Darío, José Martí, Gabriela Mistral), Avant-garde (Vicente Huidobro, César Vallejo), Committed Poetry (Pablo Neruda, Nicolás Guillén), Surrealist Poetry (Octavio Paz), and Communicative Poetry (Mario Benedetti). Nobel winners like Neruda ($1971$) and Octavio Paz ($1990$) reached global prominence. Ida Vitale, a representative of existentialist poetry, received the Cervantes Prize in $2008$.

In narrative, the $1940$s saw the birth of "Magical Realism," blending realism with fantasy. Key figures included Miguel Ángel Asturias, Alejo Carpentier, Juan Rulfo, and Jorge Luis Borges ($1899-1986$). Borges's work, such as El Aleph, combined cultural references with games between reality and the fantastic. The $1960$s marked the "Boom," where writers gained worldwide acclaim through experimental techniques. Julio Cortázar ($1914-1984$) introduced technical innovations in Rayuela. Gabriel García Márquez ($1928-2014$) reached the apex of magical realism with Cien años de soledad (Nobel $1982$). Mario Vargas Llosa ($1936$) initiated the Boom with La ciudad y los perros ($1962$) and won the Nobel in $2010$.