Exploring questions of Spanish national identity in selected works of Miguel de Unamuno, Azorín, and Antonio Machado.

Critics of La Generación de 1898 claim that the group’s aims were purely philosophical and intellectual – thus having no practical applications for the country. However, a careful examination of the respective works by Miguel de Unamuno, Azorín, and Antonio Machado indeed reveal how each author specifically strove to rediscover and to resolve the issue of Spanish national identity. A nation is a collective identity engendered by a united moral consciousness. Thus, acting as nation-builders to a nation suffering from longstanding decadence, confusion, and humiliation, these noventaochistas not only offered diverse interpretations of Spanish identity during the crises at the end of the nineteenth century but also sought to awaken the moral consciousness they believed Spaniards were seeking.