The Generation of 1898

Catalog description

"The Generation of '98" is the name used to bring together a group of Spanish writers, essayists, and poets that were profoundly affected by the moral, social and political crisis in Spain caused by the military defeat by the US and the subsequent loss of of its last overseas colonies. The shock of Spain’s defeat in the war, which left it stripped of its last vestiges of empire and international prestige, provided an impetus for many writers and thinkers to embark on a period of self-searching and an analysis of Spain’s problems and its destiny. Novelists, poets, essayists, playwrights and thinkers such as Miguel de Unamuno, Antonio Machado, Azorin, Ramiro de Maeztu, Valle-Inclan, Ganivet, and Pio Baroja reinvigorated Spanish letters and restored Spain to a position of intellectual and literary prominence that it had not held for centuries. Some of the topics covered in this course may include Spanish nationalism and the identification of Spain with Castile, regionalisms, the crisis of Spain, tradition and reform, religion, the perception and position of Spain in the world, etc.