Abstract

Existential philosophy was formulated by reknowned authors such as Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre in the twentieth century based on solid precedents taken from the ideas of Soren Kierkegaard. However, it is possible to trace existential elements back to the beginning of history. This study establishes the connections between the existential philosophy and the Spanish poet of the twentieth century. A significant part of the Spanish poets reflect an existential "attitude" in their work. The term "attitude" does not mean that the poets were directly influenced by philosophical formulations but that they possessed an existential spirit that was widespread throughout Europe. It was the result of a special socio-political situation that forced man into an evaluation of the meaning of existence. In Spain this existential "attitude" is perceived through topics such as "existence," "temporality," "struggle with God," "death," "nothingness," or "transcendence" in precursors like Rosalia de Castro and Ruben Dario, and in the works of Miguel de Unamuno, Antonio Machado, Damaso Alonso, Vicente Gaos, Blas de Otero, Julia Uceda, Manuel Mantero, and other leading poets. This existential "attitude" is a dominant reccurring catalyst that influenced the Spanish poetry of the twentieth century