The Free Spirit by Yorgos Theotokas and the Concept of the Generation of the ‘30s

Abstract

This paper presents the way in which the members of the Generation of the ‘30s, a Greek literary movement in the interwar period, formed their collective identity or denied it, and how they defined themselves as a ‘generation’ without ever creating a formal literary school. I also observe how this affected the conclusions of later literary historians. The article contains a brief presentation of the situation in Greek literature before the appearance of the Generation of the ‘30s, since the notion of a break with tradition or else reinterpretation of literary heritage was at the core of their self-definition. I focus mainly on the work of Yorgos Theotokas and his contribution to the forming of their ‘myth’, as he calls it himself, and present his first and most important essay, The Free Spirit.