Spain Literature Part IV

Finally, these young writers do not constitute a particular school or even a group: therefore, rather than new fiction, it is appropriate to speak of ” new narrators ”, that is, of the presence on the Spanish literary scene of individualities that are different from each other, but strictly linked to foreign literary trends. Naturally, the controversial escape from the Spanish tradition can only be temporary. In all likelihood, it is a sort of crossing of the desert, after which they will have to return to their origins and roots, albeit with increased maturity and different sensitivity. It is a literary generation on the move, still prey to mistrust and perplexity. Among the most representative authors we can mention: B. Pottecher (n.(1985); J. Ferrero (b. 1952) for Bélver Yin (1982); C. Fernández Cubas (b. 1945) for El año de Gracia (1985); A. García Morales (b.1945) for El Sur / Bene (1985) and El silencio de las sirenas (1985); A. Basualdo (b. 1945) for Oldsmobile 1962 (1985); A. Muñóz Molina (b. 1956) for Beatus ille (1985); I. Martínez de Pisón (b. 1960) for La ternura del dragón (1984).

Also for poetry, the renewal of forms and themes takes place towards the end of the 1960s. The new aesthetic attitude will find its first manifestation in the anthology Nueve novísimos poetas españoles (1970) edited by JM Castellet (b.1926). The dominant aesthetic (realism) and two of its fundamental postulates then enter into crisis: the commitment of the intellectual and the conception of poetry as communication (freedom, democracy, political denunciation, etc.). The ” novissimi ” poets argue with the tradition of ” social ” poetry, and replace the notion of communication with that of a poem understood as knowledge and, first of all, as a specific treatment of language, without being subject to preceptive themes. Thus begins a process that will lead to the rapid exhaustion of the central tendency of post-war Spanish poetry. The change of poetic consciousness is fueled by the rejection of the Spanish tradition, by the rediscovery of ” cursed ” authors (O. Paz, J. mass media. Beyond the individual differences, there is a common feeling, which is the loss of faith in the active value of the poetic word, with the consequent skepticism about the possibilities of poetry to change the world (Vázquez Montalbán; F. de Azúa, n.1944), while the exaltation of the autonomy of the work of art becomes pre-eminent, with a rigorous defense of the imagination and an absorbing interest in the study of style and language. However, despite the constant references to the world of the mass media, the cultural formation of almost all the ” novissimi ” poets essentially consisted in a more or less thorough knowledge of the literary tradition, on which they worked in a critical and reflective manner; and not only of literature, but also of painting and music; and on these references F. de Azúa, P. Gimferrer (b. 1945), G. Carnero (b. 1947) are elaborating their poetic writing. Alongside the ” nine ” anthologized by Castellet, other poets are emerging, turning their backs on the prevailing poetry until the end of the 1960s. They find their roots above all in the lesson of the ” generation of ’27’ ‘and also in some more recent names, such as those of the Cántico groupof Córdoba or as JM Caballero Bonald (b.1926) and A. Canales (b.1923). Some defend the ethics of language – A. Colinas (b.1946), J. Talens (b.1946), JL Jover (b.1946), J. Siles (b.1951) -, while others – LA de Villena (b.1951), A. de Cuenca (b.1950) – experience and life as a source of poetry.

According to insidewatch, in the mid-seventies one of the peculiar characteristics of Spanish poetry was the emphasis placed on foreign traditions and readings (especially by the ” novissimi ”). A reaction then manifests itself in not a few poets, who proclaim their attachment to national roots. Their goal is to make a poem and to offer different perspectives, both with respect to the ” novissimi ” and with respect to the social poetry of the previous decade. An anthological arrangement of the most significant names is that made by V. Pozanco (b. 1940) in Nueves poetas del resurgimiento (1976). These “ resurrected ” poets express a strong sense of rebellion and denunciation against the hegemony and manipulation of the language of the mass media(especially cinema and television), showing their trust in written language; they elaborate a neo-baroque and neo-symbolic poetry and, above all, they claim their roots in the Spanish tradition, seeking the sources of inspiration in the poetry of the Golden Age, as well as in the Greek-Latin culture. Among the most significant exponents of this current we point out C. Peri Rossi (b. 1941), L. Izquierdo (1936) and J. Siles (b. 1951). J. Batlló (b.1939) also offers a wide selection of poets, which constitutes a significant range of the most interesting presences in the mid-1970s: Poetas españoles postcontemporáneos (1974). Many of these poets no longer move within the orientation marked by the ” novissimi ”, even if some, at least at the beginning, had been influenced by it (especially by the eldest, Gimferrer). Among the most gifted are JM Ullán (b.1944), J. Talens, A. Martínez Sarrión (b.1939), A. Carvajal (b.1943), G. Carnero, E. Padorno (b.1942).

Spain Literature 04