Background

The Generation of '98 (also called Generation of 1898 or, in Spanish, Generación del 98 or Generación de 1898) was a group of novelists, poets, essayists, and philosophers active in Spain at the time of the Spanish-American War (1898). Daniel Defoes Robinson Crusoe; title page of 1719 newspaper edition A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... Poet is a term applied to a person who composes poetry, including extended forms such as dramatic verse. ... An essay is a short work that treats a topic from an authors personal point of view, often taking into account subjective experiences and personal reflections upon them. ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... Combatants United States and Cuban rebel forces Spain Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 2,446 combat dead or wounded (US only) Cubans and Filipinos not counted. ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

The group reinvigorated Spanish letters and restored Spain to a position of intellectual and literary prominence that it had not held for centuries. It was important to the group to define Spain, as a cultural and historical entity. The name Generación del 98 was coined by Jose Martin Ruiz, commonly known as Azorín in 1913, alluding to the moral, political, and social crisis in Spain produced by the disaster and the loss of the colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines in 1898, after defeat in the Spanish-American War that year. In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height or prime factor (in Europe), is a concept used in the categorization of hills and mountains. ... Azorín is a pseudonym of Jose Martin Ruiz, a member of the Spanish Generation of 98. ... 1913 (MCMXIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... Combatants United States and Cuban rebel forces Spain Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 2,446 combat dead or wounded (US only) Cubans and Filipinos not counted. ...

The writers, poets and playwrights of this generation maintained a strong intellectual unity, opposed the Restoration of the monarchy in Spain, revived Spanish literary myths, and broke with classical schemes of literary genres. They brought back traditional and lost words and always alluded to the old kingdom of Castilla, with many supporting the idea of Spanish Regionalism. The Restoration was the name given to the period that began in 29 December 1874 after the First Spanish Republic ended with the restoration of the throne to Alfonso XII after a coup detat by Arsenio Martínez Campos, and ended on the 14 April 1931 with the proclamation... A literary genre is one of the divisions of literature into genres according to particular criteria such as literary technique, tone, or subject matter (content). ... A former kingdom of Spain, Castile comprises the two regions of Old Castile in north-western Spain, and New Castile in the centre of the country. ... Autonomous communities of Spain. ...

The majority of these texts that were written in this literary era were produced in the years immediately after 1910 and are generally marked by the justification of radicalism and rebellion. Examples of this are the last poems incorporated to "Campos de Castilla", of Antonio Machado; Unamuno's articles written during the First World War; or in the essayistic texts of Pío Baroja.) The term Radical (latin radix meaning root) has been used since the late 18th century as a label in political science for those favoring or trying to produce thoroughgoing or extreme political reforms which can include changes to the social order to a greater or lesser extent. ... For the Danish youth organization, see Rebel (Denmark) A rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. ... Antonio Machado y Ruiz (July 26, 1875 – February 22, 1939) was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation of 98. ... Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (September 29, 1864 – December 31, 1936) was a Spanish writer and philosopher. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... Pío Baroja y Nessi was born in San Sebastián, Spain in 1872 and was one of the key novelists of the Generation of 98. ...

The criticism of the "Generation of '98" today from modern intellectuals is that the group was characterized by an increase of egoism, by a great feeling of frustration, especially about the Spain of those days, by the neo-romantic exaggeration of the individual and by the imitation of comtemporary European artistic movements.

On the other hand, left-wing revolutionary writers of the 1930s claim that the negative interpretation of the intellectual rebellion of the "Generation of '98" is because of the ideological detachment of the critics from the revolutionaries. Supporters of the revolutionaries identified themselves with the intellectual faction of the petite bourgeoisie, who felt empowered to combat a spiritualist, nationalist and counterrevolutionary attitude. // Events and trends A public speech by Benito Mussolini, founder of the Fascist movement The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the global depression. ... An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... Petit-bourgeois or Anglicised petty bourgeois is a French term that originally referred to the members of the lower middle social-classes in the 18th and early 19th centuries. ... See: Spirituality Spiritual music Spiritual dance The Age of Spiritual Machines Spiritual possession This is a disambiguation page, a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... Nationalism is an ideology that creates and sustains a nation as a concept of a common identity for groups of humans. ... A counterrevolutionary is anyone who opposes a revolution, particularly those who act after a revolution to try to overturn or reverse it, in full or in part. ...

Historical context

The years between 1875 and 1898 languished creatively due to the Restoration project of Cánovas del Castillo. When Spain lost its colonies in 1898 society at large once again poured salt on the wounds of Spain's Glorious Revolution (1868). Antonio Cánovas del Castillo, Spanish statesman and historian Antonio Cánovas Del Castillo was a Spanish politician and historian (Málaga, February 8, 1828 — Mondragón (Guipúzcoa), August 8, 1897). ...

The group of "intellectual" commentators of the disaster of 1898 averaged around 50 years of age and their professional perspectives had reached their peak (or were about to). The oldest were around the age of Galdós and the youngest that of Unamuno. Therefore, instead of being a "generation of 1898" -- that is, spiritually formed by the events of that year -- they were instead formed by the period of the September Revolution. Pérez Galdós, detail of an oil painting by Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida By courtesy of the Hispanic Society of America Benito Pérez Galdós (May 10, 1843 – January 4, 1920) was a Spanish novelist. ... Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (September 29, 1864 – December 31, 1936) was a Spanish writer and philosopher. ...

The importance of considering them as a group is that they lived through two emotionally and intellectually distinct periods.

1. The Revolution: ideological effervescence, zeal for reform and confidence in the corrective virtue of political programmes.

2. The Restoration: spiritual apathy, reluctance in tackling unavoidable problems, the suspicion inspired by any thought of change and the growing lack of confidence in the prevailing policies.

In short, these were men who were disillusioned twice over, seeing as they saw two political structures of contradictory character fail (Revolution and Restoration). From these two political experiments the "intellectuals" of 1898 reached the same conclusion: the urgency of finding a means, in areas of thought and activity separate from politics, of rescuing Spain from its progressive catatonic state. It has been suggested that Revolutionary be merged into this article or section. ... Restoration can be one of several things, depending on context: In criminal justice, restoration is another term for restorative justice. ...

The first intellectual pushback took place at the dawn of the Restoration. In 1876 Francisco Giner de los Ríos founded the Institución Libre de Enseñanza. Their work constituted an indirect repudiation of official instruction, at that time proven to be ineffective and insufficient, and subject to suffocating control by political and religious interests. 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

The historic character of Spain then became a problem worth studying (as a similar problem had become in France earlier, after the overthrow of Sedan). Unamuno studied the catechism, Macías Picavea the "loss of character (personalidad)”, Rafael Altamira the psychology of the Spanish people, and Joaquín Costa the historic character of Spain.

Precursors

• Joaquín Costa
• Ángel Ganivet
• Miguel de Unamuno

Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (September 29, 1864–December 31, 1936) was a writer and philosopher from the Basque Country in Spain. ...

Other figures

• Azorín (José Martínez Ruiz)
• José Ortega y Gasset
• Pío Baroja
• Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
• Antonio Machado y Ruiz
• Manuel Machado y Ruiz
• Ramón Pérez de Ayala
• Ramón del Valle-Inclán