7 great avant-garde writers

Avant-garde movements are more an attitude towards art than an aesthetic. The end? Break with everything established with different and innovative creations. Of course, this will be the main objective of the 7 great avant-garde writers that we present to you below.

You may already know that there are different subtypes within this 20th century movement. In this sense, we have chosen the avant-garde who stood out the most in each of them.

1. Cubism: Apollinaire

Cubism draws from pictorial sources and, therefore, integrates images, texts, different typographies, etc. In this sense, the most prominent author of the movement is Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) with his Calligrams (1918).

Apollinaire was an Italian poet, novelist and the creator of the calligram.: a visual poem, phrase, or set of words whose purpose is to form a figure that represents the theme of the writing itself.

In addition to being the precursor of literary cubism, you may be interested to know that he was also the first to use the terms “surrealism” and “surrealist.”

2. Futurism: Marinetti, one of the great avant-garde writers

Tommaso Marinetti (1880-1918) was an Italian poet and writer, known for being the founder of literary futurism following the publication of the Futuristic manifesto (1909) in the french newspaper The Figaro.

This text marked a before and after by rejecting traditional aesthetics. In addition, it includes the main features of the movement:

The exaltation of energy. Progress. The machine and industrialization.

3. Surrealism: André Breton

For many, surrealism is the most important avant-garde of the entire movement. In this sense, its creation is due to the French writer André Breton (1896-1966), who participated in the movement Dadaist and is recognized for being the mentor of French surrealism.

Founded the magazine Literature in 1919, one of the most influential of its time, and published the two Surrealist manifestos (the first in 1924 and the second in 1930).

4. Ultraism: Borges

Despite not being the creator of this avant-garde, the truth is that Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) is perhaps the most prominent figure of ultraism. A movement that emerged in 1918 to confront the modernism of Rubén Darío.

The main objective was to eliminate everything unnecessary from the writing, trying to make metaphors and images more prominent.. Thus, one of the poetic works that best represents this intention is Fervor of Buenos Aires (1923).

5. Dadaism: Tristan Tzara

Dadaism has its origin in 1916 with the Romanian poet Tristan Tzara and the German Hugo Ball. That’s why, The main author of this movement is Samuel Rosenstock (1896-1963), whose pseudonym is Tristan Tzara, who was a Romanian poet and a key figure in this avant-garde.

What does it consist of? It arises from the premise of the uselessness of traditional art and culture. In this sense, it is identified above all by:

His nihilism: he Dadaist It arises from absolute denial, an anti-art, a cry of rebellion against the cruel reality of the First World War.The arbitrariness: since it has no meaning in itself, everything is chaos.The immediacy: write down the words that pass through your mind at that very moment and make a poem with them.

6. Creationism: Huidobro, one of the great avant-garde writers

The Chilean poet, Vicente Huidobro (1893-1948), is one of the most influential avant-garde artists of Spanish literature.. He spent much of his life in Europe, between Paris (where he immersed himself in Apollinaire’s poetic creation) and Madrid. Thanks to these experiences, he is the founder of one of the most ephemeral avant-garde movements, creationism.

Among his most notable works is Altazor or the parachute trip (1931)where the language is progressively broken as the reader progresses through each of the seven cantos.

7. Expressionism: Heinrich Mann

This avant-garde movement took place in Germany in 1910, initially being a form of reaction to Impressionism. In this way, like cubism, it first found its way into painting and then into literature.

Thus, More than a movement, it is a way of expressing nonconformity and pessimism in the face of a decadent society.. In this sense, the German writer who stood out in prose and whose works showed strong criticism was Heinrich Mann (1871-1950).

Although these authors have been recognized for being great avant-garde writers, the truth is that they are not the only ones who stood out in the world literary panorama of the 20th century for their innovation. For example, writers of the stature of Louis Aragon, Philippe Soupault, César Vallejo and Oliveiro Girondo.

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