GENERATION OF 50: characteristics and authors

The Generation of the 50s is also known as the Generation of the Children of War since it is made up of those authors who were born around the 1920s and who published their texts in the 1950s. A group of writers and writers strongly marked by the Spanish Civil War and that they bet on a more aesthetic and intimate type of literature away from social poetry. In this lesson from a TEACHER we are going to offer you a brief summary of the Generation of 50 so that you know the characteristics and the main authors.

Although it is not as well known as that of 98 or 27, in Spain we can also talk about the Generation of 50, a generation that brings together a group of writers who were born during the Spanish Civil War. In fact, this group is also known as the Generation of the Middle Century wave Generation of the War Children, different names used to refer to writers who were born in the 1920s and who publish their first works in the 50s, after the Civil War.

This generation is made up of a group of writers whose

literary source is war. Authors who, above all, used poetry to communicate their feelings, ideas and emotions. It is a type of poetry that is characterized by a great literary quality but also by the marked social aspect that its verses hide. A thoughtful and intimate language That invites us to reflect and to value what has happened in recent years in Spain.

Therefore, the authors of the Generation of 50 they start from social realism, from a destroyed and ruined Spain that is the Spain in which they have lived and raised. Social criticism is very impregnated in the texts of these writers who, above all, criticize the political and social life of the postwar period. But the literary style of the texts is exquisite because the writers want enhance aesthetics Of art.

Although the poetry of the Generation of 50 maintains that vindictive character of social poetry, the truth is that the language used and the literary resources used are much more exquisite. It does not fall into colloquialisms or vulgarities but very careful and elevated writings are presented.

Now that we have been able to know what the Generation of 50 is, we are going to delve deeper into the poetry of these authors. To do this, we will analyze the main characteristics shared by the texts of the members of the generation who shared a very similar past and present.

The Features of the Generation of 50 highlights and that are usually repeated throughout the creations of the different authors are the following:

• Importance of language: Unlike the social poets, those of the Generation of 50 want to recover the artistic and aesthetic aspect of their creations and, therefore, they bet on a lyrical, careful and neat language. Without becoming academic, the language is much more careful than that of the preceding authors.
• Philosophical themes: It is another of the characteristics of the texts that are part of the Generation of 50. The authors in their texts reflect on human and philosophical issues through the use of an intimate language.
• The literary quality is recovered: the authors recover the quality that had been lost by the Civil War and a push to Spanish literature that had experienced a great crisis due to the social context that the country.
• Influences of the Generation of '27: the texts of these writers have the influence of other great Spanish writers who were part of the Generation of 27. This is the case, for example, of Gustavo Adolfo Becquer.
• Antonio Machado as a reference: these writers affirm that their ethical and aesthetic reference is the poetry of Antonio Machado and, of him, acquire that lyrical so careful and precious that, without being academic and solemn, it is capable of transmitting very much.
• They disengage from compromised literature: although his texts continue to have a strong political and social content, the truth is that they are disassociating themselves from this type of literature and betting on a cleaner language and a more aesthetic artistic.
• Intimate lyric: Another of the characteristics of the Generation of 50 is that they cultivate a type of intimate lyric that is preoccupied with metaphysical and philosophical reflections. They move away from ethical and social poetry to re-enter the depth of the poet.

To finish this summary of the Generation of 50 it is important to know the main authors who were part of this group of literati. As in all generations, the writers included in it were friends and colleagues by profession who, above all, met in capital cities such as Madrid and Barcelona.

Some of the most prominent names among the authors of the Generation of 50 are: Jaime Gil de Biedma, José Agustín Goytisolo or Carmen Martín Gaite. There is a debate about whether José Hierro should be included within said generation since he was one more author greater than the rest of the participants but who shared the same ideological characteristics and stylistic.

Writers of the Generation of 50 are often sort out as follows:

• Barcelona school: Carlos Barral, Jaime Gil de Biedma, José Agustín Goytisolo, Alfonso Costafreda, Jaime Ferrán, Juan Marsé, Gabriel Ferrater and the critic José María Castellet
• Madrid school: Ignacio and Josefina Aldecoa, Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, Ángel González, Claudio Rodríguez, Juan García Hortelano, Jesús Fernández Santos and Ana María Matute
• Andalusian Collective: Aquilino Duque, José Manuel Caballero Bonald, María Victoria Atencia and others), and individual figures such as Ángel González, José Hierro, José Ángel Valente, Antonio Gamoneda and José Manuel Caballero Bonald
• Potista: Carlos Edmundo de Ory, Francisco Nieva, Gloria Fuertes and Ángel Crespo

These are just some of the names of the authors that are part of that generation but there are more.