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| Generació de 1928 | |
|---|---|
| Name | Generació de 1928 |
| Native name | Generació de 1928 |
| Country | Spain |
| Region | Catalonia |
| Period | 1920s–1930s |
| Major figures | Carles Riba, Josep Pla, Salvador Espriu, Joaquim Ruyra, Pere Quart, Joan Sales, Miquel Llor, Josep Maria de Sagarra |
| Genres | Poetry, novel, drama |
Generació de 1928 was a Catalan literary cohort emerging in the late 1920s that regrouped authors active in Barcelona, Girona, Palma de Mallorca and other Catalan-speaking areas, combining poetic renewal, narrative experimentation and cultural commitment during the late Restoration and the Second Spanish Republic. Influenced by antecedents from the Renaixença, the Noucentisme movement and international currents such as Symbolism, Modernisme and Surrealism, this group contributed to a modern Catalan canon while reacting to contemporaneous figures linked to the Generation of '98, the Generation of '27 and the literary debates surrounding the Ruralism movement in Catalonia.
The movement formed amid political shifts involving the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, the fall of the Alfonso XIII monarchic system, the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic and intellectual exchanges in institutions like the Institut d'Estudis Catalans, the Universitat de Barcelona and cultural forums in Barcelona Cathedral-area cafés. Catalan cultural institutions such as the Orfeó Català, the Banco de Barcelona patronage networks and periodicals like La Veu de Catalunya, L'Atlàntida and Avenç provided meeting points for writers connected to theatrical circles at the Teatre Principal (Barcelona) and publishing houses like Editorial Catalònia.
Central figures included poets and critics such as Carles Riba, Salvador Espriu and Pere Quart (Joan Oliver i Sallarès), novelists and essayists such as Josep Pla, Joan Sales, Miquel Llor and playwrights and poets like Josep Maria de Sagarra and Joaquim Ruyra. Other important names present in networks and publications were Vicent Andrés Estellés, Antoni Rovira i Virgili, Joaquim Folch i Torres, Francesc Trabal, Joaquim Xirau, Eugeni d'Ors, Manuel Brunet, Pere Calders, Montserrat Roig (as later interpreter of legacies), Ramon Llull-inspired scholars and younger interlocutors linked to the Escola de Barcelona.
Authors combined classical metrics and renewed prosody influenced by Paul Valéry, Guillaume Apollinaire and Federico García Lorca while also assimilating rhetorical elements from Giovanni Pascoli and T. S. Eliot. The group balanced aesthetics drawn from Noucentisme advocates such as Eugeni d'Ors with existential and ethical concerns evident in responses to events like the Spanish Civil War and the Battle of the Ebro. Themes ranged from Mediterranean mythologies linked to Mallorca and Empordà landscapes to urban narratives rooted in Passeig de Gràcia and port life around Barcelona Port, producing lyrics and prose attentive to memory, identity, exile and social fracture.
Key poetic works include collections by Salvador Espriu and editions by Carles Riba, while narrative highlights encompass novels by Joan Sales and chronicles by Josep Pla. Dramatic and theatrical outputs circulated via performances at venues such as the Teatre Romea and the Teatre Lliure antecedents, and notable publications appeared in journals like La Publicitat and La Nostra Revista. Important titles circulating in this milieu were works comparable in influence to texts by Miguel de Unamuno-adjacent thinkers and the continental modernist canon.
The cohort influenced subsequent Catalan writers, critics and institutions including the Institut Ramon Llull cultural policies and editorial practices of houses analogous to Angle Editorial and Destino. Their reception in periodicals, anthologies and university syllabi connected them to translators and critics such as those active in Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and their poetic and narrative techniques informed later movements like the postwar lyricism of Anna Maria Moix and the narrative realism of Mercè Rodoreda.
Members maintained varied political positions, interacting with parties and movements such as Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, Lliga Regionalista and intellectual circles around the Centre Català and cultural platforms tied to the Generalitat de Catalunya. During the Spanish Civil War, many faced exile, censorship, or engagement with relief networks linking to the League of Nations-era humanitarian circuits and émigré communities in France and Argentina.
Critical appraisal situates the cohort as a bridge between Noucentisme classicism and later postwar literature; scholars at institutions like the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas and faculties at Universitat de València have produced studies comparing their oeuvre with European contemporaries such as Paul Valéry and Federico García Lorca. Their legacy endures in Catalan curricula, museum exhibitions in Museu d'Història de Catalunya and commemorative editions by publishers in Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, securing their place in the Catalan cultural canon.
Category:Catalan literature Category:Literary movements