83- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
Let the healing begin:la Generación del 98
The Generation of 98 were born of Spain’s decline: the
‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1868 had proved as potent as a
boiled potato and the Bourbons’ corrupt old guard were
soon back in power. When the nation lost the Spanish-
American War in 1898 and with it her last important
colonies, the literary fraternity had had enough. A new
breed of writers took their cue from the Institución Libre
de Enseñanza (Institute of Free Education), a liberal
school where teachers pondered Spain’s predicament
and encouraged students to halt the decline using
culture. Inspired, poets, novelists and playwrights began
examining the Spanish malaise in print, breeding a kind
of intellectual disobedience.Their work varied vastly but,
in common, the writers looked to a virtuous Spain of the
past; a land they felt had been in decline since
the Golden Age. Picking up the themes of Galdós and
Clarín, they urged people to find the Spaniard within.
A second wave of compelling young writers, also usually
bracketed within this Generation of 98, emerged in the
early 20thcentury.Five important writers from the Generation of 98
Miguel de Unamuno. Embodying the school’s ethos,
Unamuno’s challenging but revered essays grasped at
the heart of Spain, hoping to stop the rot. He also wrote
philosophical novels, ornivolasas he called them.
In the innovativeNiebla(1914) the heroic but flawed
main character falls out with Unamuno (the author, a
character in the book) because of the unfavourable plot.
Unamuno also wrote reams of verse on varied themes,
from the Spanish countryside to love and eternal life.
He died while under house arrest in the early days of the
Civil War. (See section 2.2.1. for Unamuno’s philosophy.)2.1.5 Generation game: Unamuno, Lorca and Cela