Spanish Literature

The last decade of the 19th Century in Spain saw a flurry of literary activity take hold. The writers of the Generation of '98 as they were referred to, were determined to reevaluate the country's cultural life and try and revitalize it. This was the time when Spain, losing her last foreign territories, suddenly awakoke to the fact that she was no longer what she once was. These writers try to convey how Spain opened her eyes to what had become a modern world, in which the memories of yesteryear had become stale and old-fashioned.

Some of the most important representatives of this generation of writers include philosopher Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo, the Galician writer Ramón del Valle Inclán, the poet Antonio Machado Ruiz, the essayist Azorín, pen name of José Martínez Ruiz, the Spanish Basque novelist Pío Baroja y Nessi, and the dramatist and critic Jacinto Benavente y Martínez.