Generation of '98
Encyclopedia
The Generation of '98 was a group of novel
ists, poet
s, essay
ists, and philosophers active in Spain
at the time of the Spanish-American War
(1898).
The name Generación del 98 was coined by Jose Martínez Ruiz
, commonly known as Azorín, in his 1913 essays titled “La generación de 1898,” alluding to the moral, political, and social crisis in Spain produced by the disaster and the loss of the colonies of Cuba
, Puerto Rico
and the Philippines
after defeat in the Spanish-American War
that same year. In his work Spain, 1808-1939, Raymond Carr defines the Generation of ’98 as the “group of creative writers who were born in the seventies, whose major works fall in the two decades after 1898.”
These intellectuals who included in this group are known for their criticism of the Spanish literary and educational establishments, which they saw as having characteristics of conformism and ignorance, and a lack of any true spirit. Their criticism was coupled with, and heavily connected to, the group’s dislike for the Restoration Movement that was occurring in Spanish government.
and Carlist Monarchism marked by the oscillation of power (a zeal for reform characterized these years of Spanish history):
Several progressive professors were dismissed from the Central University of Madrid for promoting the ideas of Karl Christian Friedrich Krause
1781–1832 a German philosopher advocated academic tolerance and liberty.
founded the Institución Libre de Enseñanza or ILE, a school which was first a free university, and later an institution of primary and secondary education.
Their work constituted an indirect repudiation of official instruction, at that time proven to be ineffective and insufficient, and subject to suffocating control by political and religious interests. The Institute departed from this norm by stressing the importance of intellectual freedom and moral self-improvement.
The writers, poets and playwrights of this generation maintained a strong intellectual unity, opposed the Restoration
of the monarchy in Spain, revived Spanish literary myths, and broke with classical schemes of literary genre
s. They brought back traditional and lost words and always alluded to the old kingdom of Castile
, with many supporting the idea of Spanish Regionalism
.
The majority of these texts that were written in this literary era were produced in the years immediately after 1910 and are generally marked by the justification of radicalism
and rebellion
. Examples of this are the last poems incorporated to "Campos de Castilla", of Antonio Machado
; Miguel de Unamuno
's articles written during the First World War; or in the essayistic texts of Pío Baroja
.)
The criticism of the "Generation of '98" today from modern intellectuals is that the group was characterized by an increase of egoism, and by a great feeling of frustration with Spanish society and politics.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ists, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
s, essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
ists, and philosophers active in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
at the time of the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
(1898).
The name Generación del 98 was coined by Jose Martínez Ruiz
José Martínez Ruiz
José Augusto Trinidad Martínez Ruíz, also known as Azorín , was a Spanish writer and literary critic.-Early life and education:Martínez Ruiz was born in Monovar, Alicante in 1873...
, commonly known as Azorín, in his 1913 essays titled “La generación de 1898,” alluding to the moral, political, and social crisis in Spain produced by the disaster and the loss of the colonies of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
after defeat in the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
that same year. In his work Spain, 1808-1939, Raymond Carr defines the Generation of ’98 as the “group of creative writers who were born in the seventies, whose major works fall in the two decades after 1898.”
These intellectuals who included in this group are known for their criticism of the Spanish literary and educational establishments, which they saw as having characteristics of conformism and ignorance, and a lack of any true spirit. Their criticism was coupled with, and heavily connected to, the group’s dislike for the Restoration Movement that was occurring in Spanish government.
Historical context
The group that has become known as The Generation of ’98 was affected by several major events and trends in Spanish history. According to Carr’s definition of the group, most of them were born in the 70’s. These men, then, were informed not only by Spain’s defeat and humiliation in the Spanish-American war in 1898, which crystallized into two distinct political movements, RepublicanismFirst Spanish Republic
The First Spanish Republic was the political regime that existed in Spain between the parliamentary proclamation on 11 February 1873 and 29 December 1874 when General Arsenio Martínez-Campos's pronunciamento marked the beginning of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain...
and Carlist Monarchism marked by the oscillation of power (a zeal for reform characterized these years of Spanish history):
- “The Glorious Revolution”Glorious Revolution (Spain)The Glorious Revolution took place in Spain in 1868, resulting in the deposition of Queen Isabella II.An 1866 rebellion led by General Juan Prim and a revolt of the sergeants at San Gil barracks, in Madrid, sent a signal to Spanish liberals and republicans that there was serious unrest with the...
in 1868 and the following six years of revolution, in which the country overthrew Queen Isabella and the monarchy. and then were left to try to fill the political void with a stable government. - The First Spanish RepublicFirst Spanish RepublicThe First Spanish Republic was the political regime that existed in Spain between the parliamentary proclamation on 11 February 1873 and 29 December 1874 when General Arsenio Martínez-Campos's pronunciamento marked the beginning of the Bourbon Restoration in Spain...
of 1873 lasted only 22 months. - The Restoration projectSpain under the RestorationThe Restoration was the name given to the period that began on December 29, 1874 after the First Spanish Republic ended with the restoration of Alfonso XII to the throne after a coup d'état by Martinez Campos, and ended on April 14, 1931 with the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic.After...
of Antonio Cánovas del CastilloAntonio Cánovas del CastilloAntonio Cánovas del Castillo was a Spanish politician and historian known principally for his role in supporting the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy to the Spanish throne and for his death at the hands of an anarchist assassin, Michele Angiolillo.-Early career:Born in Málaga as the son of...
, was an attempt to create a constitutional monarchyConstitutional monarchyConstitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
based on the contemporary British CrownVictorian eraThe Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
which began shortly after Cánovas was appointed prime minister by Alfonso XII in 1874. A system called “turno pacífico,” or “peaceful alternation,” was devised in which two political parties alternated control of the government, by means of a heavily orchestrated and mechanized electoral process. The Restoration was reasonably successful in restoring political stability, but finally ended with the Second Spanish RepublicSecond Spanish RepublicThe Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
in 1931.
The Restoration Project
The first intellectual criticism took place at the dawn of the Restoration movement. In 1875 the minister for development, Manuel Orovio (1817 - 1873) sought to reinforce traditional 'Spanish values' – notably via education in the dogma of contemporary Spanish Catholocism by an edict known as the Decreto Orovio.Academic Repression
This 'crackdown' was a response to various attempts - notably but not exclusively by the intellectual elite listed below - to introduce some form of liberal democracy both in Spanish academic life and in the wider society.Several progressive professors were dismissed from the Central University of Madrid for promoting the ideas of Karl Christian Friedrich Krause
Karl Christian Friedrich Krause
Karl Christian Friedrich Krause was a German philosopher, born at Eisenberg, Thuringia.-Education and Life:...
1781–1832 a German philosopher advocated academic tolerance and liberty.
La Institución Libre de Enseñanza
In 1876 these dismissed professors, led by Francisco Giner de los RíosFrancisco Giner de los Ríos
Francisco Giner de los Ríos was a philosopher, educator and one of the most influential Spanish intellectuals at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century....
founded the Institución Libre de Enseñanza or ILE, a school which was first a free university, and later an institution of primary and secondary education.
Their work constituted an indirect repudiation of official instruction, at that time proven to be ineffective and insufficient, and subject to suffocating control by political and religious interests. The Institute departed from this norm by stressing the importance of intellectual freedom and moral self-improvement.
A movement of criticism and ideals
The Generation of ’98 intellectuals objected to the meticulously organized structure of the Restoration system of government and the corruption that it fostered. After Spain’s bloody and decisive defeat in the Spanish-American War, which resulted in thousands of dead Spaniards and the loss of all of Spain’s remaining colonies, these writers were prompted to voice their criticism. They agreed on the urgency of finding a means, in areas of thought and activity separate from politics, of rescuing Spain from its progressive catatonic state.The writers, poets and playwrights of this generation maintained a strong intellectual unity, opposed the Restoration
Spain under the Restoration
The Restoration was the name given to the period that began on December 29, 1874 after the First Spanish Republic ended with the restoration of Alfonso XII to the throne after a coup d'état by Martinez Campos, and ended on April 14, 1931 with the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic.After...
of the monarchy in Spain, revived Spanish literary myths, and broke with classical schemes of literary genre
Literary genre
A literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even length. Genre should not be confused with age category, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not be confused...
s. They brought back traditional and lost words and always alluded to the old kingdom of Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
, with many supporting the idea of Spanish Regionalism
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
.
The majority of these texts that were written in this literary era were produced in the years immediately after 1910 and are generally marked by the justification of radicalism
Extremism
Extremism is any ideology or political act far outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards...
and rebellion
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
. Examples of this are the last poems incorporated to "Campos de Castilla", of Antonio Machado
Antonio Machado
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz, known as Antonio Machado was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation of '98....
; Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno
Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright and philosopher.-Biography:...
's articles written during the First World War; or in the essayistic texts of Pío Baroja
Pío Baroja
Pío Baroja y Nessi was a Spanish Basque writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family, his brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephew Julio Caro Baroja, son of his younger sister Carmen, was a well known...
.)
The criticism of the "Generation of '98" today from modern intellectuals is that the group was characterized by an increase of egoism, and by a great feeling of frustration with Spanish society and politics.
Key Figures
Some of the key intellectual minds of the Generation of ’98 include- Joaquín CostaJoaquin CostaJoaquin Costa was a Spanish politician, lawyer, economist and historian....
- Miguel de UnamunoMiguel de UnamunoMiguel de Unamuno y Jugo was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright and philosopher.-Biography:...
- Ramón del Valle Inclán
- José Martínez RuizJosé Martínez RuizJosé Augusto Trinidad Martínez Ruíz, also known as Azorín , was a Spanish writer and literary critic.-Early life and education:Martínez Ruiz was born in Monovar, Alicante in 1873...
(Azorín) - Pío BarojaPío BarojaPío Baroja y Nessi was a Spanish Basque writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family, his brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephew Julio Caro Baroja, son of his younger sister Carmen, was a well known...
- Antonio MachadoAntonio MachadoAntonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz, known as Antonio Machado was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation of '98....
- Manuel MachadoManuel MachadoManuel Machado may refer to:*Manuel Machado , Portuguese composer of early Baroque music*Manuel Machado y Ruiz , Spanish poet, part of the Generation of '98...
- Ramiro de MaeztuRamiro de MaeztuRamiro de Maeztu y Whitney was a Spanish political theorist, journalist, literary critic, occasional diplomat and member of the Generation of '98....
Works Referenced
- “Spain, 1808-1939” by Raymond Carr
- “A History of Spain” by Simon Barton
- “Literary Criticism in the Essays of the Generation of 1898” by Mary E. Buffum
- “El espacio urbano en la narrativa del Madrid de la Edad de Plata (1900-1938)” by Cristián H. Ricci