LA GENERACIÓN DEL 98
Enlace/Link al Centro Virtual Cervantes (Spanish).
Fuente/Source: Centro Virtual Cervantes/Cervantes Virtual Centre.
Translation to English (traducción al inglés)
The Generation of '98
Usually the
man is a reflection of the spiritual and material environment in which he
lives, but not always, and Cajal is a clear example of the latter. A
personality like his was not carried away by the physical and moral involving
him and his career, therefore, was not the expected logic of a collective
atmosphere of one of the worst moments in the history of Spain. Let's see how
Cajal transited counterclockwise so the logic of the time should have led him.
Cajal comes
to scientific research when it is in crisis the thinking of idealist
philosophy, when the industrial revolution was offered as live demonstration of
what is progress from the cultivation of positive science. It's the time of the
great inventions with application to
everyday life, and therefore, the time when Europe attends the launch of
industrial countries and cultivators of science. Born the great myth of the art
and in this context, philosophical thought realizes that if it wants to continue to possess seniority
within the set of knowledge, must be coupled with positive science.
Thus, the
philosophy that pervades Cajal will come from the “krausismo” positivist
Spanish front, which is inspired by Comte, in the neo-Kantianism and, above
all, in the great success of Darwinism which constitutes a key contribution
from that pretends to explain, with scientific character, problems till then
reserved to philosophical speculation and, above all, religious. The last third
of the nineteenth century is proof that rationality is plausible in any field
of knowledge. This philosophical background that crosses Europe collects and
crystallizes in Spain in a critical sentiment denouncing their secular cultural
delay. Throughout the nineteenth century we can witness a progressive movement,
first of suspect, later of conviction, of failing, of not doing what a true European
would do. This situation adds another factor of prime importance. In the last
years of that century Spain sank into the bitterness of defeat that entailed
the final collapse of its colonial empire.
![[Fotografía] Juan Ramón.](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uygJrD8ii5_lUMlFGVzPo0olQpdVQ3iU5MgqDNowzmqN-IbLbp1-orjwudNDZEMoVOVjUG7LcUZL0aTMnw0zwtNHw7tzIf102lMpEClkXegD2GTBQ5UATocxwIH22i-DMumPCnihs=s0-d)
Santiago Ramon y Cajal, medicine student at Zaragoza in 1876. Picture property of Mr. Luis Ramón y Cajal.
A set of
circumstances, to which I allude only because they are well known, did a
backward country of Spain against the other peoples of Europe. As a result,
among other things, it was estimated as valuable only those things taking the
mark from abroad. The values of the French, English, or German imposed in all
fields, in science and in industry, in the arts and fashion. Spain declined and
eagerly sought what other peoples produced abundantly. Only in the literary
continued, perhaps, its glorious tradition. Athenians and Societies gathered
most cultured men who were busy discussing sterile on all sorts of subjects, and
among them, science, obviously, was not the favorite.
This set of
circumstances led to a collective sense, initially of guilt and after creative
criticism among the Spanish top then, and the Post scriptum, as mentioned
before, is the best reflection of these words. It was the attitude that has
been called Generation of '98, so lucky synthetic expression but, at the same
time dangerous because it tends to circumscribe a deep and complex national moment
in a limited group of men, mainly in a few writers.
The
Generation of '98 was more than the act of a literary group: represents a noble
critical reaction to a serious national crisis; reaction won a large number of
Spanish who felt a responsibility to his country and his time. So, that vast
and bitter reaction was fruitful, creative and, above all, intelligent. Nothing
confirms the effectiveness of that movement considering Spanish as their
results. They succeeded to create an enduring love for living things of
Spain -earth, character, man, art- which had hitherto been neglected.
That "rule with sadness" that enthused Costa, and Cajal advocated as
a panacea, had its usefulness.
