Spanish Modernism and the Poetics of Youth: From Miguel de Unamuno to 'la Joven Literatura'

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In Spanish Modernism and the Poetics of Youth: From Miguel de Unamuno to La Joven Literatura, Leslie J. Harkema analyzes the literature of the modernist period in Spain in light of the emergence of youth culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Harkema argues for the prominent role played by Miguel de Unamuno--as a poet, essayist, and public figure--in Spanish writers' response to this phenomenon. She demonstrates how early twentieth-century Spanish literature participated in the glorification of adolescence and questioning of Bildung seen elsewhere in European modernism, in ways that were not only aesthetic but also political. Harkema critically re-examines the relationship between Unamuno and several Spanish writers associated with the so-called Generation of 1927 (known as at the time as "la joven literatura" or "the young literature"). By situating this period within the wider framework of European modernism, Spanish Modernism and the Poetics of Youth brings to light the central role that the early twentieth century's re-imagining of adolescence and youth played in the development of literary modernism in Spain. Cover Copyright Dedication Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments A Note on Translation Abbreviations Introduction: Spain, Modernism, Youth 1 Unamuno’s Poetics of Youth, 1895−1907 2 The Heroic Age: The Residencia de Estudiantes, José Moreno Villa, and Spanish Adolescence during the First World War 3 “Un joven auténtico de 366 años”: Fashioning a Young Literature 4 Hercules and Hermes: Versions of Artistic and Political Youth Conclusion: Supervivencia Notes Bibliography Index