La historia es de los poetas: Tradición y crí­tica en algunas voces del 27

Abstract

This article contrasts the writings of some of the most representative poets of 'La Generación del 27' in order to show their work as critics of contemporary spanish poetry and to emphasize the relevance in their works of the model advocated by T. S. Eliot. Pedro Salina's, Max Aub's and Luis Cernuda's literary essays are regarded as parts of a process of construction, from the exile, of a history of modern lyrics. In this process, these authors showed their coincident and divergent views on aspects such as tradition, canon, Literary Criticism's mission, and fundamentally the suitability of their models for literary analysis. The particular way in which the three authors used these concepts in such significant essays requires a specific approach. This article aims also to attract attention in the development of a sort of 'collective poetry manual' that took place long after the cultural effervescence in which these authors gathered as a group.