Generation of 38

The Generation of '38 (Spanish: Generación del 38) was a Chilean artistic-literary movement that tried to portray the social decline of the time in its works. It became prominent in the cultural panorama of the 1930s.

In 1937, after two mandates by Arturo Alessandri Palma, the Popular Front took over the Chilean government. The international situation was critical, marked by the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and by the imminent outbreak of World War II (1939–1945). This affected conditions for the majority of the population.

Chile was undergoing a process of economic transition, as its main source of livelihood was the agricultural sector, but interest in industrialization was growing. This had dire consequences for the mining sector, as production of saltpeter ceased, and consequently many unemployed northern miners decided to travel to the capital in search of new job opportunities.

Due to the great social turmoil resulting from the global crisis, some young Chilean writers felt the need to reflect what they saw around them in their works. In particular they detailed the deplorable conditions in which miners and laborers worked, and how this situation extended to their families – because the jobs paid poorly, scarcity and misery were common in daily life.

Facing this great social problem, various writers and artists wanted to bring literature and the arts closer to the reality of the Chilean working and middle classes. In the Generation of '38, interest in social issues was united with the idea of creating an intellectual and artistic movement. This contrasted with earlier years in which culture was not a transcendent part of Chilean social life because literature and other forms of art did not reflect the reality of life in the country.

The Generation of '38 was not only a literary movement, but also extended to other areas of culture. During the 1940s the experimental theater of the University of Chile and the Symphony Orchestra were created. In this way, both theater and music ensured that interest in the social question transcended the literary sphere and became a relevant theme for Chilean culture of the time.

An example of the themes that were addressed in the literature of the time is the narrative of Nicomedes Guzmán (1914–1964) in his work Los hombres oscuros, where he alludes to the vicissitudes of a man living in a tenement and how he decides to become part of a trade union movement. The type of literature that Guzmán created was that of a "pamphleteer" character, since in his works there was an implicit call to workers to mobilize and organize themselves to promote awareness of their problems and jointly seek certain improvements.

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