Spanish Modernism and the Poetics of Youth

In Spanish Modernism and the Poetics of Youth: From Miguel de Unamuno to La Joven Literatura, Leslie J. Harkema analyzes the literature of the modernist period in Spain in light of the emergence of youth culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Leslie J. Harkema is an assistant professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Yale University.

"Leslie Harkema has written an excellent book on an important but neglected subject: the productive relationship between Unamuno and the younger writers of la joven literatura, and she has shed new light on both. For a superannuated unamunologo like the present reviewer it is heartening to know that Unamuno studies have passed into the capable hands of discerning, well-informed, and industrious young scholars like the author of this well-researched and informative book."

Andrew Anderson, Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese, University of Virginia :

"Harkema’s book delves into an important yet largely neglected aspect of the Spanish literary scene of the 1910s, 20s, and 30s, namely the ongoing relationship between Unamuno and the younger writers from those decades. The reader comes away with a renewed and more profound appreciation for Unamuno’s poetry and essays, for the literary production of authors such as José Moreno Villa, Gerardo Diego, Ernesto Giménez Caballero, and José Bergamín, and especially, for the complex and evolving impact that the ’elder statesman’ Unamuno had on younger writers born around the turn of the century. Above all, it will henceforth be impossible for critics working on this period to approach the history of the Residencia de Estudiantes, the notion of 'la joven literatura', or indeed, the broader concept of youthfulness − that was much discussed over precisely those years − without taking into account the many fresh and penetrating insights that this study has to offer."

Gayle Rogers, Department of English, University of Pittsburgh :

"Harkema’s book repositions Unamuno as a pivotal figure in the development of a surprising, sometimes counterintuitive, and always fascinating reconfiguration of the relationship between youth and poetic form in early twentieth-century Spain. With authoritative readings, vivid prose, and her own nuanced translations, she charts a new course for understanding this complex moment in international literary history."