Vessels of Social Critique: Poetry and Humor During Franco's "XXV Años de Paz"

Abstract

Vessels of Social Critique: Poetry and Humor During Franco’s ‘XXV Años de Paz’ delves into the often-overlooked postwar period in Spain's to interrogate both the alleged postwar peace that existed from 1939 to 1964, the year of Francisco Franco's "XXV Años de Paz" celebrations, and Spain’s alleged status as a cultural dessert. The dissertation commences by exploring how social poetry produced by writers in inner exile, employing Miguel Salabert's terminology, served as a vessel to denounce the social ills of the era, including but not limited to famine, the black market, and mass graves. It investigates the challenges of forming a reading public in the face of continued wartime vigilance and examines how poets in inner exile established an intellectual sphere at Vicente Aleixandre's home, a site of cultural resistance. Additionally, I analyze poetry by female and less-studied male poets who moved from Spain's provinces to Madrid, shedding light on regionally unique representations of social ills. It then examines the deaths and memorializations of the poets, Antonio Machado, Juan Ramón Jiménez and Vicente Aleixandre. Particularly, I explore how the homage paid to Antonio Machado at his grave in Collioure, France, in 1959 was a contemporaneous criticism of Franco's "XXV Años de Paz," highlighting the social poets' questioning of the regime's official narrative. The dissertation concludes by deconstructing Franco's "XXV Años de Paz" celebrations through an analysis of film, press coverage, and art, underscoring the regime's obsession with its origin narrative and its efforts to erase dissent.Collectively, this dissertation enriches Spanish cultural studies by exploring connections between social poets in inner exile and subversive conservatives' social critique, and by shedding light on the representations of postwar famine, the black market, and mass graves. It uncovers critical postwar cultural production that persisted despite the Franco regime’s attempts to control the historical narrative, offering insights that remain relevant in light of contemporary challenges to historical memory.