Mastering Unit 6: The Avant-Garde, Social Struggle, and Identity in 20th-Century Spanish Literature

Historical Context and Literary Movements

The early 20th century in the Spanish-speaking world was marked by political turmoil, social revolution, and intense artistic experimentation. Reviewing this section requires understanding how authors broke from tradition to address modern anxieties, identity, and repression.

Key Literary Movements

  1. Generación del 27 (Generation of '27): A group of Spanish poets (including Lorca) who blended the avant-garde (Surrealism, Futurism) with traditional Spanish forms (like the ballad or romance). They were heavily influenced by Góngora and popular folklore.
  2. Vanguardismo (Avant-Garde): A broader movement including Surrealism (focus on the unconscious/irrational) and Existentialism. Pablo Neruda in his Residencia en la tierra phase exemplifies this.
  3. Poesía Negra / Negrismo: A movement particularly in the Caribbean (Cuba, Puerto Rico) focusing on African heritage, rhythms, and the social reality of Afro-descendants. Nicolás Guillén is the key figure here.

Federico García Lorca: The Voice of the Margins

Lorca is central to the AP curriculum. You must analyze his work through two lenses: his poetry (folklore meets avant-garde) and his theater (social criticism and tragedy).

Poetry: "Prendimiento de Antoñito el Camborio en el camino de Sevilla"

This poem comes from the collection Romancero gitano (1928). It elevates the "gitano" (Roma person) to a mythical status while criticizing authoritarian brutality.

Form:

  • Romance: An indefinite number of octosyllabic (8-syllable) lines with assonant rhyme in even-numbered lines (\O - a - \O - a). This is the oldest, most traditional Spanish oral poetic form, repurposed by Lorca.

Summary & Analysis:

  • The Protagonist: Antoñito is described as beautiful, elegant, and connected to nature ("moreno de verde luna"). He represents the free spirit of the gitano.
  • The Conflict: He is arrested by the Guardia Civil (Civil Guard) for essentially doing nothing identifiable other than being a gitano. He does not fight back, losing his "honor" in the eyes of his ancestors.
  • Key Symbols:
    • Vara de mimbre (Willow stick): A symbol of authority and elegance, not violence.
    • The Guardia Civil: Represents organized, oppressive authority; they are depicted as heavy, lead-like, and lifeless.
    • Five tricorns (tricornios): Synecdoche referring to the five guards by their hats.

Theater: La casa de Bernarda Alba

Completed in 1936, just before Lorca's assassination and the start of the Spanish Civil War. It is subtitled a "Drama of Women in the Villages of Spain."

Themes:

  • Authoritarianism vs. Freedom: Bernarda represents fascism/tyranny; Adela represents the impulse for freedom.
  • Sexual Repression: The heat (el calor) pervades the play, symbolizing inescapable sexual desire.
  • The Role of Women: Society demands women act as perfect mourners and submissive wives. Bernarda enforces the adage: "Hilo y aguja para las hembras. Látigo y mula para el varón." (Thread and needle for females. Whip and mule for the male).
  • Classism: Bernarda looks down on everyone, including her neighbors and servants (