Octavio Paz: Taking off the Mask of Mexican Identity

 This week's Nobel Prize winner, Octavio Paz, was born in Mexico City in 1914 and won the Nobel Prize in 1990. Octavio Paz’s identity and oeuvre are deeply intertwined with his Mexican heritage. He and his family were greatly impacted by the Mexican Civil War, which lasted from 1910 to 1917 (Britannica). He worked as a diplomat and ambassador for Mexico throughout his career. Paz’s work as a poet and writer “explored zones of modern culture outside the marketplace, and his most prominent theme was the human ability to overcome existential solitude through erotic love and artistic creativity” (Britannica). Like many of the writers we have studied in this course, Paz lived in a period of unsteadiness and political upheaval that made its mark on his life. Mexican identity is a common theme in his writing. 

Critics applauded Paz for his work with such themes, stating that his “‘exploration of Mexican existential values permit[ted] him to open a door to an understanding of other countries and other cultures’ and thus appeal to readers of diverse backgrounds” (Poetry Foundation). Paz was able to connect with people universally through microscopic examination of his own self and national identity. His work also helped define Mexican identity after a time of upheaval and chaos.  

His book “Labyrinth of Solitude”, a “comprehensive portrait of Mexican society” (Poetry Foundation) is one of his most well-known works. In class, we read one chapter of this long essay, “Mexican Mask”, which deals with themes of Mexican identity and tradition. In “Labyrinth of Solitude”, Paz describes the Mexican people as being the wounded children of Spain, the conquering father who abandoned his children (Poetry Foundation). Paz claimed that this history caused the Mexican people to put up masks behind which they take refuge and create solitude. I was interested to read another chapter of “Labyrinth of Solitude”, titled “Present Day”, and explore more of Paz’s work surrounding the theme of Mexican identity as well as tradition. 

The chapter, published in 1950, reflects on the Mexican Revolution/Mexican Civil War, which took place around 40 years prior. Paz writes that the revolutionary movement “transformed Mexico and made her ‘other’” and that the Revolution “has recreated the nation; in another sense, of equal importance, it has extended nationality to races and classes which neither colonialism nor the nineteenth century were able to incorporate into our national life” (Paz). The revolution did help create some changes, but also, was not entirely successful. “The Revolution has not succeeded in changing our country into a community”, he wrote. Post-Revolution, Paz believed Mexico was still a confused country which encouraged solitude over community. The early to mid 20th century was a singular time for every country, as modernization was spurned by new technological advancements and inventions. Society was changing in every place in the world touched by modernization, and this caused many countries to have to redefine or reconsider their national identities. War, revolution, and political strife in general also impact the way a nation’s people see their country or relate to their national identity. Spain, for example, began modernization under the dictatorship of Franco in the 1960s. Emerging from isolation into modernization, globalization, and democratization of the 70s and 80s forced Spanish people to redefine their identities in the context of this new world. A nation going through changes (Spain as well as Mexico) creates a changing identity for each of its citizens as well. This is a common theme discussed by Paz in a lot of his writing, especially in “Labyrinth of Solitude”. 

Recalling the title of the chapter “Mexican Mask”, Paz writes that “The Mexican hides behind a variety of masks, but he tears them away during a fiesta or a time of grief or suffering, just as the nation has cast off all the forms that were stifling it” (Paz). Identity, for Paz, and in the context of the Mexican Revolution, is a performance- like a mask that can be thrown on or off depending on the situation. It is a somewhat disingenuous and constructed identity that hides the real person (or country). At the end of the chapter, Paz states that men live in a world of violence and deception. It is necessary to overcome it in order to alleviate anguish and fear. “If we tear off these masks, if we open ourselves up, if - in brief - we face our own selves, then we can truly begin to live and think (Paz). Paz sees self reflection as a necessary action which could help save a nation in a dark period.  If this is true, then poetry is an essential act of defiance against the world Paz writes of - the world of violence and deception which creates solitude and pain. As a poet, Paz spent his life self-reflecting and reflecting on his country and on the events and phenomena he observed in the world. His poetry was a way to voice these reflections to the world, and were especially important in his own country of Mexico during the 20th century. Writing is a way of “tearing off the mask” - of facing one’s self. Paz became the voice of a people, and is similar to many of the other writers we’ve studied throughout the duration of this course. All of them came from countries which went through extremely traumatizing events to live through. Many of the writers write of solitude, mainly Gabriel Garcia Marquez, which is a recurring topic for Paz as well. Politics and world events are very connected with the literature of Paz and every other writer from Latin America who won the Nobel Prize. The 20th century was a very chaotic time, and in Mexico, Paz spoke of identity and the need to eliminate masks and barriers to create change that the Revolution did not effectively accomplish. 

Works Cited 

“Octavio Paz | Nobel Laureate, Mexican Poet & Diplomat.” Britannica, 15 April 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Octavio-Paz. Accessed 30 April 2024.

SOMMER, Gaby, et al. “Octavio Paz.” Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/octavio-paz. Accessed 30 April 2024.

Paz, Octavio. The Labyrinth of Solitude: Life and Thought in Mexico. Grove Press, 1978.

Magical Realism and Political Instability

Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Prize winner of 1982, is one of the foremost examples of the magical realism genre. Magical realism is difficult to define, but one of the most important characteristics is that it “embeds elements of magic - nonempirically verifiable phenomena - within a realistic narrative” (Farris 2016). The short stories by García Márquez we have read in class include strange or magical things occuring, like an angel landing in a common backyard or butterflies landing on a wall and becoming paint. The setting of Latin America, both for the stories and the movement as a whole to take place in, is very important to the genre I believe. The natural elements, history of indigenous cultures, and political instability in the region perhaps all contribute to the relation between magical realism and Latin America. Magical realism “serves to highlight certain phenomena - love, pain, unconscious desires, individual or collective beliefs, family and communal ties, political atrocities.” (Farris 2016). This can be a useful way for Latin American authors to deal with these themes and the political instability in their countries.

Gabriel García Márquez 

 Although it began around 1925 in Germany, magical realism continued to develop in Latin America throughout the 20th century, beginning in 1949. Important artists and writers were of course Gabriel García Márquez from Colombia, Elena Garro from Mexico, Fernando Botero from Colombia, and Frida Kahlo from Mexico. These four artists, according to Maria Rave from the University of Maine, all use techniques such as hyperbole, mythological or religious elements, ghosts, and non linear use of time. They also use their work to comment on political and social issues in their countries of Colombia and Mexico, and “reflect the Latin concept of people and community in a cycle of life and death, rebirth and memory in endless repetition” (Rave 2003). 

 Gabriel García Márquez’ work frequently includes themes of violence, Latin American culture and society, and Latin American politics. “One Hundred Years of Solitude” was published in 1967, at a time where radical movements and shifts in society were taking place across the globe. Here in Europe and in the United States, the political atmosphere “favored the emergence of radical voices from outside the literary mainstream, and the Latin Americans fitted the bill. But in the context of the Cold War García Márquez’s left-wing views led to his being refused entry to the USA, and later to his only being granted limited visas” (Millington 2014). His work was, however, widely appreciated and loved, having been translated into dozens of languages. The social and political context of the era was very important to the development of the movement. In a lot of his early works, he writes about characters who fall victim to political corruption. Even people who try to uphold their morals cannot defend themselves against such a corrupted political system. Many of his characters as well display resilience in the face of hardship. All these themes used by Gabriel García Márquez relate to the political issues of the time. Latin America has a large history of political instability, corruption, war, and foreign intervention. 

Many of the horrific events that transpired in Latin America during the 20th century seem beyond reality. Imagination can be a helpful way to think about ways to transcend one’s situation. For example, the literary and artistic movement Afrofuturism has served as a way for Black people, particularly in America, to imagine realities other than the one where they had been enslaved and systematically oppressed. Fantasy or magic, or in the case of García Márquez and Latin America, magical realism, functions as a way of imagining different realities or coping with difficult political situations. Another example is Pan’s Labyrinth, a 2006 film by director Guillermo del Toro, a Mexican filmmaker. It uses fantastical and at times horrific elements in a story about the Spanish Civil War, and all the atrocities that occurred during it. Using magical realism - adding these magical elements to a story about real events in our world - communicated the true horror of the Spanish Civil War. Like Pan’s Labyrinth, and other works set in times of political instability, García Márquez’s magical realism is a method of processing and telling stories in which bravery in the face of corruption and horror is magical in and of itself. 

Pan's Labyrinth (2006) 

 Sources

  Faris WB. The Latin American boom and the invention of magic realism. In: McHale B, Platt L, eds. The Cambridge History of Postmodern Literature. Cambridge University Press; 2016:143-158. Rave, Maria Eugenia B. (2003). “Magical Realism and Latin America” (2003) Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 481. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/481 Millington, Mark. “Love, politics, and the fundamental humanity of Gabriel García Márquez.” The Conversation, 24 April 2014, https://theconversation.com/love-politics-and-the-fundamental-humanity-of-gabriel-garcia-marquez-25835. Accessed 10 April 2024.

Pablo Neruda's Surrealism

    Pablo Neruda, the Chilean Nobel prize winner of 1971, is one of the most exceptional poets of the 20th century. In addition to his writing, he was very outspoken on politics and supported the Spanish Republican cause and the resistance to Pinochet. During his career, he interacted with Spain’s Generation of ‘27. The Generation of ‘27 was a group of writers, namely poets, who “rose to prominence in the late 1920s and who derived their collective name from the year in which several of them produced important commemorative editions of the poetry of Luis de Góngora y Argote on the tercentenary of his death” (Britannica). These poets were very influenced by movements of the time such as Symbolism, Futurism, and Surrealism, and ushered these movements into the realm of Spanish literature. Other characteristics of the Generation of ‘27 is their rejection of traditional meter, rhyme, and logic, and their use of metaphor and symbolism to convey inner experiences. 

    Though not regarded as necessarily being a member of the Generation of ‘27, Neruda, who lived in Spain from 1927-1943, is very emblematic of several of their key themes. One of these themes is surrealism. Although the history of surrealism is “written in French, Spain's role in the movement is significant. Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel, Óscar Domínguez, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso are some of the most representative artists from the Spanish side (Museo Reina Sofía).” These contributions include poetry as well, not just visual arts. Surrealism was a movement that attempted to allow artists to express their unconscious mind through illogical and dreamlike writing. 

 I wanted to analyze some more of Neruda’s poems from his work “Book of Questions” (1973). 

 Poem XLIII, page. 43. 

Who was she who made love to you in your dream, while you slept? 

Where do the things in dreams go? Do they pass to the dreams of others? 

And does the father who lives in your dreams die again when you awaken? 

In dream, do plants blossom and their solemn fruit ripen? 

 This poem, while being more straightforward and easy to understand, deals with the surrealistic theme of dreams. In the short poem, Neruda ponders the meaning of dreams, as well as what happens to the subject matter of dreams once you wake up. Neruda writes, “Who was she..?” and “Where do the things in dreams go? Do they pass to the dreams of others?” To him, the things in dreams might be able to “pass to the dreams of others”. It is a world where “plants blossom and their solemn fruit ripen”. Perhaps to Pablo Neruda, his more surrealistic and nonsensical poems might serve as a way for him to connect with his subconscious and his dream world, to uncover where the things in dreams go. 

  Poem XLVII, page 47. 

In the middle of autumn do you hear yellow explosions? 

By what reason or injustice does the rain weep its joy? 

Which birds lead the way when the flock takes flight? 

From what does the hummingbird hang its dazzling symmetry? 

 All of the poems in “Book of Questions” have similar formats and syntax. Neruda forms his poems all as a series of questions, usually about four in short stanzas. He uses very simple language, and his question-poems almost seem like the questions of a curious child who is experiencing life for the first time. A lot of Neruda’s poetry had themes of nature, with lots of colorful imagery. This poem mentions a different aspect of nature in each question/stanza: “autumn” and “yellow explosions” (line one), “rain” weeping (line two),“ birds” leading the way (line three), and “the hummingbird” and its “dazzling symmetry” (line four). Neruda personifies nature- the rain is able to weep from reason or injustice like a human. He frames nature and animals as able to make conscious decisions rather than just being guided by instinct- the hummingbird hangs its symmetry on something. The first line establishes that Neruda is addressing the reader specifically- “do you hear yellow explosions?” The reader can somehow hear color in Neruda’s world. Although a simple poem, there is much under the surface. It is all very surrealistic, and goes along with many of the themes of the Generation of 27. The format of short, simple one line stanzas formed of singular questions did not follow the conventions of the previous literary world. Neruda’s entire “Book of Questions” breaks the boundary. 

  Poem XLVIII, page 48. 

Are the breasts of the sirens spiral shells from the sea? 

Or are they petrified waves or the stationary play of the spume? 

Hasn't the meadow caught fire with wild fireflies? 

Did autumn's hairdressers uncomb these chrysanthemums? 

 This poem follows the previous sequentially in the book. I liked this poem because of the imagery it evokes, and the words Neruda uses to summon the natural world. This poem is perhaps the most surrealistic because it has no discernable theme and is pretty nonsensical. It’s hard to determine exactly what he’s trying to convey to the reader, if anything. But that is what makes this poem surrealistic, and defying conventions of the time. It is more interesting to do something different and confusing than write another conventional, standard poem on love, of which there already exist thousands. The first line is, “Are the breasts of sirens the spiral shells from the sea?” I really like this line, for the image it evokes of mermaids and the ocean. It is very beautiful language that inspires images in the mind of the reader, and this is a very powerful skill for a poet to have. The next line, “Or are they petrified waves or the stationary play of the spume?” This line is even more beautiful- Neruda describes waves and seafoam frozen in time. He switches topics in line three, “Hasn’t the meadow caught fire with wild fireflies?” This line takes place on land instead of sea, and when reading it you can imagine a meadow in the evening glowing with fireflies as if it was on fire, a very surrealistic image. Finally, Neruda changes topics again (while staying on track with the natural world) - “Did autumn’s hairdressers uncomb these chrysanthemums?” The final line personifies autumn as a person with chrysanthemums for hair, who has a hairdresser to “uncomb” them. This is an image that I can guarantee I and most people never would have thought up. Some people may not enjoy Neruda’s surrealist work that emerged later in his life, but I think it is very playful and strange, and it is interesting to read poems that are so much different from any other poetry I’ve read in literature classes. 

Works Cited 

 “Generation of 1927 | Modernism, Poetry, Novels.” Britannica, 21 February 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Generation-of-1927. Accessed 18 March 2024. 

 “Exposición - Surrealism in Spain. Documents -.” Museo Reina Sofia, https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/exhibitions/surrealism-spain-documents. Accessed 18 March 2024. 

 Neruda, Pablo. The Book of Questions. Copper Canyon Press, 1974.

Female Writers in Latin America

Female Writers in Latin America 

Gabriela Mistral was the first Latin writer to be awarded the Nobel prize for literature, and the only woman we will study in this class. Throughout literary history, men and Europeans have been most recognized for their work. Latin American women writers are a particularly marginalized group, whose points of views have been underappreciated and overlooked. While Gabriela Mistral, a Chilean poet, won the Nobel prize in 1945, many other important Latin American female authors have not been recognized in such ways. 

Gabriela Mistral

Celia de Zapata, an Argentinian writer and academic, published an article in the Spring 1975 edition of the Latin American Literary Review called “One Hundred Years of Women Writers in Latin America” that attempted to shine light on some of these women writers. De Zapata writes that “some female names are to be found here and there in certain books on ancient history or in rare poetry anthologies, but even they are almost always modestly hidden - or forced by pragmatic impulse - under a nom de plume” (de Zapata 1975). Indeed, Gabriela Mistral used a pen name, following this trend among female writers. De Zapata notes the example of Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz, known simply as “Sor Juana”, the “The Tenth Muse of America”, who has been recognized in the history of literature. However, most male literary critics and historians note her for being an exceptional woman as well - it is not enough simply to be an exceptional writer. 

Sor Juana

 This article was interesting to me because it was written in the 19th century, at a time when female and latinoamerican authors were even less recognized than they are now, in the third decade of the 21st century. De Zapata wrote, “As the 19th century comes to a close, the woman writer of Ibero-America is still inarticulate, isolated for centuries from her North American sister who is in a heated rebellion against a Puritan morality as she attacks Victorian convictions” (de Zapata 1975). While female writers in the United States had somewhat higher standing in the literary world compared to those in Latin America, their writing was still accused of being insipid and meaningless, especially when it dealt with sexual themes. In the United States, Kate Chopin wrote The Awakening (1899) which was the first American novel dealing with a woman becoming sexually aware. In Latin America, the landscape was very different and these themes were even less accepted. Perhaps “the only writer of exceptional quality in the Spanish language who dares to depict an amorous surrender openly is the Chilean, Maria Luisa Bombal” in her first novel, la última niebla in 1935 (de Zapata 1975). 

Maria Luisa Bombol

 Maria Luisa Bombal was another notable Chilean woman author. She was born in Chile in 1910 and was primarily a novelist and short-story writer. The heroines in her work often create “fantasy worlds in order to escape from unfulfilling love relationships and restricted social roles” (Britannica). Her narrative style was surrealist and influenced the magical realism movement later on. Bombol was born into an affluent family and moved to Paris in 1922 to attend the Sorbonne at the University of Paris. She then returned to Chile briefly before settling into the literary movement in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After spending 30 years in the United States, she finally returned to Chile. Her second novel, La amortajada, (1938- “the shrouded woman”) tells the story of the protagonist, who is dead, contemplating her failed relationships while witnessing her own funeral, finally embracing her “second death”. Later on, Bombal used her first work, la última niebla, as the basis for an English-language novel, The House of Mist (1947). Bombal’s work creates “a vague sensation of unreality” (de Zapata 1975) and is notable for describing the amorous feelings of a woman. 

 The third source I read on this topic was an article by Celia C. Esplugas titled “Maria Luisa Bombol and Sherwood Anderson: Early Twentieth-Century Pan American Feminism”, published in the journal “College Literature” in Spring 2013. Esplugas comments on the importance of Bombal’s work, stating that her novels “reflect the patriarchal constitution of their societies that, largely ignoring women's emotional needs, shattered their personal development and often their psychological balance” (Esplugas 2013). Bombol was an early critic of machismo and her work investigated the roles of women in society, and her plots gave surreal life to the effects the patriarchy has on women. Esplugas’ article investigates deeper the plot of la ultima niebla, and dissects the ways it was revolutionary in both its contributions to the surrealist and magical realism genres, and the ties it has to early feminist literature. 

 Maria Luisa Bombol and Gabriela Mistral are just two important Latin American authors that more people should know. Almost all of the most famous writers of the past few centuries are white, male, European or American men - most people could name Hemingway, Salinger, Steinbeck, Tolstoy, Dickens, but what about Mistral? Female Latin American writers have been marginalized and under-appreciated for their contributions to important literary movements such as magical realism. 

 Bibliography 

 Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "María Luisa Bombal". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Jun. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maria-Luisa-Bombal. Accessed 26 February 2024. de Zapata, Celia. “One Hundred Years of Women Writers in Latin America.” Latin American Literary Review, vol. 3, no. 6, 1975, pp. 7–16. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20118956. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024. ESPLUGAS, CELIA C. “MARÌA LUISA BOMBAL AND SHERWOOD ANDERSON: EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY PAN-AMERICAN FEMINISM(S).” College Literature, vol. 40, no. 2, 2013, pp. 155–70. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24543173. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024.

Echegaray, and the Generation of 1898

Echegaray, and the Generation of 1898 

     Jose Echegaray, Spanish dramatist, was born in 1832 and died in 1916. He was awarded the nobel prize for literature in December 1904, and his defining work was “The Great Galeoto” (1895). His work has often been criticized for being undeserving of such a prestigious prize. During our unit on Echegaray, we briefly learned about the Generation of 1898 and how they were part of these critiques. I was interested to learn more about the Generation of 1898, which was a literary movement which emerged after the Spanish-American war, and contrast the works of these writers to the works of Echegaray.

     Echegaray’s chapter in “The Nobel Prize Winners: Literature” by Frank N. Magill provides background information on Echegaray, contextualizing his works and overviewing the critical reception he received at the time. Magill stated that although Echegaray may have been “the darling of the Spanish people…he was repudiated by the emerging new generation of writers, the Generation of 1898. Their outrage and response was immediate and bitter.” The award being presented to Echegaray seemed to these writers “a betrayal of all for which they had fought in their literary careers” (Magill 1987). In fact, several writers of the Generation of 1898 (often called simply “The Generation”) prepared a formal manifesto to present to the Nobel Committee to signify their ire with their decision. These writers included Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo, Rubén Darío, Pío Baroja, and Antonio Machado y Ruiz. Magill then goes on to comment on the more sympathetic response that some other critics had to Echegaray. They believed that Echegaray was awarded the Nobel Prize too late, because his theater did not belong in the modern period, and could not be held to represent the beginning of the twentieth century. Benavente, the second Spanish Nobel Prize winner, said that Echegaray “made multitudes think and feel….In half a century there is no theatrical writing that can compare with his in quantity, variety or creative force” (Magill 1987). 

     The Generation of 1898 in Spain included the novelists, poets, essayists, and thinkers who were actively producing works at the time of the Spanish-American War. For an overview on The Generation of 1898, I read a Britannica article. The article provides historical context for The Generation of 1898, including events which preceded this new generation and the characteristics of its members. The article also lists and describes some of the prominent figures of the movement. 

     The Generation of 1898 ranged from 1898-1910. The Generation sought to reinvigorate Spanish literature and restore it to a high level of intellectual prominence that it had been lacking for centuries (Britannica). It stemmed from the defeat of Spain by America in the Spanish-American war (1898), which left Spain shocked and stripped of Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. This led to an opportunity for Spain’s writers and thinkers to be introspective and analyze the problems of the country post-defeat. The term “The Generation of 1898” was coined by the literary critic Azorín around the turn of the century. The term was then applied to writers who focused on Spain, its heritage, and its new position in the modern world. It was not an organized movement or school, but rather a loose and diverse group of thinkers from different fields who aimed to jolt Spanish people “out of what they saw as apathy and restore a sense of national pride” (Britannica). The outcome of the work of The Generation of 1898 was a revitalization of Spanish literature and a new sense of gravity and purpose of the novel. These writers “elevated the essay- critical, psychological, philosophical- to a position of literary importance At the same time, they brought to Spain an awareness of foreign trends in literature and thought that enabled the Spanish people to reassess their own values in the context of the modern world, thus awakening a national consciousness that paved the way for Spanish cultural development in the 20th century (Britannica). 

     The third source I read while researching this topic was an article titled “THE SPANISH ‘GENERATION OF 1898’: I. THE HISTORY OF A CONCEPT” by a professor of Spanish Language and Literature at the University of Manchester, H. Ramsden (1974). In this article, Ramsden investigates the origin of the concept of The Generation of 1898. Ramsden describes the characteristics of that new generation through the eyes of contemporary commentators. He states, “...first, that it is a generation of protest against the social, moral and intellectual state of Spain, and secondly, that it is a generation that seizes eagerly on influences from abroad’ (Ramsden 1974). A Spanish novelist, essayist, and philosopher of the time, Miguel de Unamuno, observed the signs of a literary awakening, noting a “desintegración de antiguas categorías” and stated that “viejos y jóvenes son habitantes de distintos planetas” (Ramsden 1974). The generation was further characterized by their tendency towards idealism or utopianism. Thinkers such as Unamuno, Azorin, Baroja, and Maeztu drew a distinction between Modernism and the ideas of The Generation of 1898. It was narrower to them, and they often used the words “decadentismo” and “esteticismo”, and categorized it by the generation’s commitment to critical intellectualism. Of course, there were a lot of divisions and variety in the themes and values of each individual writer of The Generation of 1898. However, it can be broadly summarized by the above ideals. The Generation of 1898 contrasts heavily with Echegaray, who was producing works at the same time. After investigating some of the core concepts of the generation, it is easy to see why the writers of The Generation of 1898 would have taken offense to Echegaray’s selection as Nobel Prize winner. Echegaray tended to replicate or “revitalize” classic Spanish drama, whereas The Generation of 1898 aimed to do things that were new, different, and more auto critical of their country. 

 Bibliography Magill, Frank N. The Nobel Prize Winners: Literature. vol. 1, Pasadena, CA, Salem Press, 1987. “Generation of 1898 | Modernismo, Symbolism, Naturalism.” Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Generation-of-1898. Accessed 12 February 2024. Ramsden, H. (1974). the Spanish "generation Of 1898": I. The History Of A Concept. Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 56 (2):463-491.