The Use of Images and Photographs in Five Anthologies of the Generation of ’27: Gerardo Diego (1932), Vicente Gaos (1965, 1975), José Luis Cano (1982), and Víctor de Lama (1997)

Abstract

In this work we study the use of images and photographs in five anthologies of the Generation of ’27: Poesía Española. Antología 1915-1931 by Gerardo Diego (1932), the two editions of Antología del grupo poético de 1927 by Vicente Gaos (1965, 1975), Antología de los poetas del 27 by José Luis Cano (1982), and Poesía de la generación del 27. Antología crítica comentada by Víctor de Lama (1997). We propose that the visual elements in the mentioned anthologies follow some specific rules established by the anthological repertoire about this literary group to set author images in three different ways: to configure the anthologized poets from portraits of each one of them, the anthologist as the book creator, and the group presentation from the photography of the Gongora’s Centennial in Sevilla in 1927. To prove this, the anthology is understood as a coherent book according to José Francisco Ruiz Casanova’s considerations and its insertion into the literary system, following Itamar Even-Zohar’s notes. Moreover, to analyse the importance of the images, we use the concepts of configuration and figuration pointed out by Dominique Maingueneau. The importance of this study is to understand the poetic anthologies of the Generation of ’27 as part of a repertoire where there are elements and rules of combination that establish models not only in the poetic selection but also in the visual elements that are used on them.