AVANT-GARDE IN COLOMBIA: CHARACTERISTICS, AUTHORS AND WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

The avant-garde in Colombia was a movement that did not have much boom and it was a style that did not have too many demonstrations or representatives. For all this, it is very difficult to establish a work or a date that marks the beginning of this movement in the country.

It is estimated that the avant-garde arrived in Colombia around 1920, due to the boom experienced by the movement in Europe and in many other areas of the American continent. As in other places, the Colombian avant-garde was also based on opposing the ideas of modernism.

Leon de Greiff was one of the representatives of the avant-garde in Colombia. Source: Banco de la República Culture, via Wikimedia Commons.

The isolated manifestations of the avant-garde in Colombia were driven by the changes at the social level that the country was experiencing, as well as those of its economy. Similarly, the authors of this movement showed interest in ending the structures and rules of the literary exponents that had preceded them.

Historic context

The avant-garde began in Europe, specifically in France. During the First World War this movement gained greater relevance, especially in America.

In Colombia, between 1920 and 1930, there is talk of the end of the beginning of a republic with liberal characteristics thanks to the presence of Olaya Herrera. There were many changes at the economic level: for example, while the First World War was going on, the country could not export its coffee because it did not have its own fleet and the boats fulfilled other functions.

Also in this avant-garde era, Colombia saw changes in the banking system and at the fiscal level. The local industry lived a moment of prosperity, together with the interest shown by the Americans in investing in the country.

The New York Stock Market crisis was also felt in this country, especially affecting the export of some products. This crisis allowed Colombia to give greater importance to the local and to begin to develop its forms of communication, creating railways and using telegraphs.

The artists found inspiration in wars and the effects they had on society to express their inner world.

characteristics

The avant-garde was characterized throughout the world as a revolutionary movement, which sought to innovate in all its forms and expressions. He denied movements such as modernism and romanticism, although he really sought to differentiate himself from everything that could exist and propose in the past.

Other artistic movements such as Dadaism or Surrealism were born from the avant-garde.

In Colombia, it was not a continuous movement in time and its expressions were isolated and the product of the personal concern of some authors. Some groups can be identified within the Colombian avant-garde.

The works that were published during this period were characterized by touching simple themes that represented the daily life of people. His poetry had a marked presence of irony.

Many of the poetic manifestations in Colombia had to do with the political sphere of the country, which was a consequence of the fact that most of the poets also worked as politicians. Then there was great criticism of public bodies.

Among the themes addressed by the Colombian avant-garde were works that dealt with the social reality of the country, life as something fleeting, the fight against the traditional and even religious themes.

The avant-garde works, in addition, were developed in three main genres. The novel, short story and poetry had the most important representatives of this artistic genre.

Authors and their works

The representatives and works of the avant-garde movement in Colombia are usually grouped by the ideas they sought to represent. These groups were known as "the new ones", "the Piedracielistas", "the cuadernícolas", "the figures of Nadaism" and "the postmodern representatives".

The objective of all was the same: to innovate in the subject matter they were addressing and in the language they used.

Likewise, as in any movement, there was one representative who stood out more than the rest. José María Vargas was named as the first avant-garde that Colombia had. Although in his works you can really appreciate characteristics of modernist works.

Postmodernists

As their name clearly indicates, they were characterized by opposing all the ideas proposed by modernism. Luis Carlos López and Porfirio Barba were its most relevant representatives.

Archilokidas

It is considered the most important group in the Colombian avant-garde movement, although they only manifested during four months of the year 1922, between June 23 and July 19. His work consisted in the publication of his ideas, under the name Archilokias, in the newspaper La República.

They used mockery and irony, and even insults and disqualifications, to attack representatives of the literature of earlier times. This earned them many detractors. The group had several writers, such as Luis Tejada, Silvio Villegas or Hernando de la Calle.

The new ones

They focused on poetry and were contrary to the ideas of modernism. The group received its name from the magazine Los Nuevos, which appeared in 1925. Its representatives include some authors who were part of the Arquilókidas, such as León de Greiff and Rafael Maya.

There are also Germán Pardo García and Luis Vidales, who was the author of Suenan Timbres, the most important work of this period.

The stone

It was a group whose work did not have a great diffusion in Colombia. It received its name from the publication Piedra y cielo by the Spanish poet Jorge Ramón Jiménez. Some of its representatives were Eduardo Carranza, promoter of the group, Jorge Rojas and Arturo Camacho.

They had many detractors, among them some members of the group «Los nuevos». They are accused, among other things, of being conservative, and their innovation in the country's poetry was denied.

The notebooks

It was a group that appeared around the year 1945. They received their name in 1949 thanks to the Semana magazine, due to the fact that they published their work in notebooks that had the title Canticle. The most important poets within this group were Álvaro Mutis, Eduardo Mendoza and Andrés Holguín.

Myth

Jorge Gaitán and Hernando Valencia, two notebooks, were the founders of this group when they founded a magazine with the same name in 1954. The authors who made life in this publication aimed to improve the situation in the country.

Nothingness

Its origin dates back to 1958 and its representatives were characterized by questioning everything, from society, to religion or artistic expressions. They admired the work of Nietzsche, a German philosopher. Jaime Jaramillo and Mario Arbeláez were part of this group.

References

1. Ardila, J. (2013). Review of Vanguardia y antivanguardia in Colombian literature. Recovered from academia.edu
2. Caballero, M. Tradition and renewal: the avant-garde in Colombia. Recovered from cervantesvirtual.com
3. Páez Díaz, L. Colombian Vanguardism. Recovered from calameo.com/
4. Pöppel, H., & Gomes, M. (2004). The literary vanguards in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Madrid: Iberoamericana.
5. Sánchez, L. (1976). Comparative history of American literatures. Editorial Losada.