Dámaso Alonso wrote at a period when the terms of literature itself were being argued over.
The record lists Dámaso Alonso as Spanish poet, philologist, and literary critic.
Dámaso Alonso was born at Madrid in 1899. His recorded nationality is Spain. He was educated at University of Madrid and Complutense University of Madrid.
Around the turn of the twentieth century, literary form itself came under argument, and the certainties of the realist novel were dismantled.
He worked as poet, writer and linguist.
The writing is recorded in Spanish.
Books outlive their reviews, and the ones that last are seldom the ones that sold best.
The honours record reads: Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise (1977) and Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru.
That the work was written from Spain matters: language, censorship and the reach of a publishing industry decide which books travel and which stay local.
Dámaso Alonso died in 1990, aged 91. The books remain, which is the only durable form a writing life takes.
Achievements
- Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise — 1977
- Grand Cross of the Order of the Sun of Peru
