Las Sinombrero: WRITERS of the Generation of '27

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If we talk about the Generation of 27 names like Federico García Lorca, Vicente Aleixandre, Rafael Alberti or Luis Cernuda come to mind but What about the women writers of the time? We must not forget that, in Spain, we are in a historical moment marked by the Republic, that is, a period of openness in which the rights of women began to be defended. Therefore, creative women were very prominent at this time although, later, due to the Franco dictatorship, they were again silenced. In this lesson from a TEACHER we want to discover you the writers of the Generation of '27 most important of the time to recover them from oblivion and restore their literary recognition. Here they are!

Index

1. The Sinombrero or the writers of the Generation of 27
2. María Zambrano (1904-1991)
3. María Teresa León (1903 - 1988)
4. Concha Méndez (1898-1986)
5. Rosa Chacel (1898 - 1994)
6. Marga Gil Roësset (1908-1932)

It is important to know the historical context of the Generation of '27 to understand the rise of women writers that appeared at this time. Both the First and the Second Spanish Republic opted to create a more egalitarian society and some gender barriers that had existed until now began to be eradicated. Women were able to go to university and their participation in the artistic and literary world was increasing; For this reason, we can talk about the writers of the Generation of 27, women who were silenced by the Franco dictatorship but who produced the same or more works than the most recognized authors of this generation.

Traditionally, when studying the Generation of 27, only the men who joined the ranks of this cultural and aesthetic movement were mentioned. However, there are writers and poets who were also part of this trend and who They met by the name of Las Sinsombrero, appellation used because they were freer women and who broke with the social conventions of the era (women used to go out with hats to denote their elegance and femininity). The origin of this curious name is due to the fact that Margarita Manso and Maruja Mallo they uncovered their heads when they were walking through the Puerta del Sol, a gesture that led to the proliferation of insults and even the throwing of stones by passers-by.

This group of writers immersed themselves fully in the intellectual life of the moment and they were placed in the first row. It was a very important step forward in the society of the time because, until now, women only occupied a second social plane and barely had space in the cultural and artistic sector. This caused a great social upheaval and these artists and writers were highly criticized by the more traditional sectors of Spanish society.

Among the writers of the Generation of 27 we find ourselves to poets, novelists, essayists, storytellers, etc; but, in addition, we also find women artists linked to other arts such as painting or sculpture. Almost all of them resided in Madrid and were in contact with the intellectual circles as well as with the members of the Student Residences.

Next we are going to rescue from oblivion some of the most interesting Generation of 27 writers so that, like this, you can get to know her work and better understand what this generation of artists was who tried to renew the arts and letters Spanish.

Image: People who shine

We start this list talking about, perhaps, one of the best known names that will appear in this lesson: María Zambrano. She is the most popular creator of the entire group and has been most recognized at the state level: in 1981 she won the award Prince of Asturias Awards and in 1988 the Cervantes Prize. We are facing a multifaceted artist who, above all, stands out in the field of philosophy and essay.

Zambrano went into exile when the Civil War broke out and did not return to Spain until 1984. When he returned, it was when he became a recognized personality in the history of the country, something that did not happen with the rest of his colleagues. He has an extensive work in which a civic engagement and poetic thinking; some of the author's most prominent titles are:

• Towards a knowledge of the soul (1934)
• Philosophy and Poetry (1939)
• Delirium and Destiny (written in 1953 and published in 1989)
• Person and Democracy: A Sacrificial Story (1958, reissued in 1988)
• The dreams and the time (reissued in 1998).

Image: Youtube

María Teresa León is another of the most outstanding Generation of 27 writers. Originally from Logroño, this artist she was expelled from her school of nuns because she wanted to continue studying and specialize in the world of letters. Her partner was Rafael Alberti and, together, they went into exile to Argentina and Italy when the Civil War broke out.

León cultivated a wide variety of literary genres: from novel, poetry, short story, essay and even film script. She was a writer and activist who decided to break with the social conventions of the time and continue studying. She graduated in Philosophy and Letters and, within her publications, we highlight her progressive and transgressive tone. In addition, she separated from her first husband in 1922 (something very rare at the time) and married Alberti in 1932.

She published 20 works among which we highlight:

• Stories to dream
• Freedom on the roof
• Dream and truth of Francisco de Goya
• Fables of Bitter Time and Other Stories
• Cervantes, the soldier who taught us to speak

Image: The Voice of the Republic

A very prominent poetess of the Generation of '27 was Concha Mendez. But she, in addition to being a poet, she was also a playwright, editor, screenwriter, book seller and a long etcetera. She was a woman closely linked to the literary sector of the time and, with the outbreak of the Civil War, she marked herself in France and, later, in Mexico. She never returned to Spain, however, her work can be read today thanks to the anthology edited by Hiperión in which all her poems are gathered from 1926 to 1986.

Madrilenian by birth, Concha Méndez stood out during her youth in the field of sports, in fact, she won several swimming championships. However, it was her use of her poetry that made her a recognized artist today and very prolific in her day. Together with her husband, Manuel Altoaguirre, she made a very interesting editorial work her by publishing collections of poetry that were created at the time. Thanks to this, many works of the Generation of 27 were disseminated among the public.

Image: Fausto Marcelo Ávila

Rosa Chacel is another of the most outstanding Generation of 27 writers. She was born into a family strongly linked to Spanish literature since she was niece-great-daughter of José Zorrilla. The author cultivated several literary genres such as novel, poetry and essay. Like the great majority of her companions, she also went into exile with the outbreak of the Civil War in Spain; she found her refuge in Brazil, a country from which she did not return until 1977 when she moved to Madrid.

She was a student at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Fernando and collaborated in important literary magazines of the time with narrative and poetry. Some of his most outstanding works are as follows:

• Poetry (1931-1991)
• Maravillas neighborhood
• Balaam and other tales
• The unreason

Marga Gil Roësset is another of the most prominent names of this generation. She in the field of literature she stood out for her poems but, also, she cultivated sculpture becoming a very prominent artist. However, her artistic life was very short since she committed suicide when she was only 24 years old her because of the impossible love she felt for Juan Ramón Jiménez (or so the scholars of her life say).

She was a very prominent artist for cultivating avant-garde and groundbreaking sculpture. In the field of writing, she wrote some poems and was in charge of illustrating the stories that her sister, Consuelo de ella, wrote.

Image: Seniors with illusion

If you want to read more articles similar to Female Writers of the '27 Generation, we recommend that you enter our category of History of Literature.

• from La Paz, P. N. (2006). Autobiographical voice and professional identity: the Spanish writers of the Generation of 27. Hispania, 20-26.
• García Jaramillo, J. (2017). Memory against forgetting. The writers of the Generation of 27.
• Gui, Y. (2016). The search for the own << I >> in the writers of the generation of 27 and those of the fourth of May.