Post on 23-Mar-2020
Better Against Franco?
Cultural Responses to Spain’s Transition from Dictatorship to
Democracy
Lecture Outline
• Brief introduction to the Transition
• Anxiety and nostalgia – Unfinished Business • Testimony – Seven days in January • Disillusionment – Absent Love • Irreverence – Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on
the Heap
The Transition
The Transition
• 20 November 1975 General Francisco Franco dies
The Transition
• 20 November 1975 General Francisco Franco dies
The Transition
• 20 November 1975 General Francisco Franco dies
• 22 November 1975 Juan Carlos takes oath and becomes king
The Transition
• 20 November 1975 General Francisco Franco dies
• 22 November 1975 Juan Carlos takes oath and becomes king
The Transition
• 20 November 1975 General Francisco Franco dies
• 22 November 1975 Juan Carlos takes oath and becomes king
• Carlos Arias Navarro continues as prime minister
The Opposition
The Opposition
• 26 March 1976 Democratic Opposition publishes manifesto:
The Opposition
• 26 March 1976 Democratic Opposition publishes manifesto:
– real reform
The Opposition
• 26 March 1976 Democratic Opposition publishes manifesto:
– real reform
– amnesty for all political prisoners
The Opposition
• 26 March 1976 Democratic Opposition publishes manifesto:
– real reform
– amnesty for all political prisoners
– legalization of all political parties
The Opposition
• 26 March 1976 Democratic Opposition publishes manifesto:
– real reform
– amnesty for all political prisoners
– legalization of all political parties
– dismantlement of the institutions of Franco
The Opposition
• 26 March 1976 Democratic Opposition publishes manifesto:
– real reform
– amnesty for all political prisoners
– legalization of all political parties
– dismantlement of the institutions of Franco
– free trade unions
The Opposition
• 26 March 1976 Democratic Opposition publishes manifesto:
– real reform
– amnesty for all political prisoners
– legalization of all political parties
– dismantlement of the institutions of Franco
– free trade unions
– free elections to a constituent assembly
The Opposition
• 26 March 1976 Democratic Opposition publishes manifesto:
– real reform
– amnesty for all political prisoners
– legalization of all political parties
– dismantlement of the institutions of Franco
– free trade unions
– free elections to a constituent assembly
– repeal of anti-terrorist laws
The Opposition
• 26 March 1976 Democratic Opposition publishes manifesto: – real reform – amnesty for all political prisoners – legalization of all political parties – dismantlement of the institutions of Franco – free trade unions – free elections to a constituent assembly – repeal of anti-terrorist laws – dismantling of the Tribunal for Public Order
The way forward?
The way forward?
• Continuity
The way forward?
• Continuity
• A clean break
The way forward?
• Continuity
• A clean break
• Negotiated change
Negotiated Change
Negotiated Change
• 3 July 1976 Adolfo Suárez succeeds Arias Navarro as prime minister
Negotiated Change
• 3 July 1976 Adolfo Suárez succeeds Arias Navarro as prime minister
Negotiated Change
• 3 July 1976 Adolfo Suárez succeeds Arias Navarro as prime minister
• 8 August 1976 Suárez forms new government
Negotiated Change
• 3 July 1976 Adolfo Suárez succeeds Arias Navarro as prime minister
• 8 August 1976 Suárez forms new government
• 10 September 1976 Law for Political Reform approved
Negotiated Change
• 3 July 1976 Adolfo Suárez succeeds Arias Navarro as prime minister
• 8 August 1976 Suárez forms new government • 10 September 1976 Law for Political Reform
approved
• 15 December Law put to a referendum and passed
The Negotiation
• 14 July 1976 Partial amnesty secured by Opposition for political prisoners
The Negotiation
• 14 July 1976 Partial amnesty secured by Opposition for political prisoners
• 4 March 1977 strikes are legalized
The Negotiation
• 14 July 1976 Partial amnesty secured by Opposition for political prisoners
• 4 March 1977 strikes are legalized
• 1 April 1977 decree passed allowing Union association
The Negotiation
• 14 July 1976 Partial amnesty secured by Opposition for political prisoners
• 4 March 1977 strikes are legalized
• 1 April 1977 decree passed allowing Union association
• 9 April 1977 Spanish Communist Party legalized
The Outcome
The Outcome
• 15 April 1977 general elections held
Election Results
Election Results
• Suárez’s Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD) wins with 35%
Election Results
• Suárez’s Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD) wins with 35% of vote
• Spanish Socialists come second with 29% of vote
Election Results
• Suárez’s Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD) wins with 35% of vote
• Spanish Socialists come second with 29% of vote
• Poor showing of ‘extremes’, including Communist Party
The Outcome
• 15 April 1977 general elections held
The Outcome
• 15 April 1977 general elections held
• 14 May 1977 Juan de Borbón abdicates, legitimizing monarchy of his son, Juan Carlos
The Outcome
• 15 April 1977 general elections held
• 14 May 1977 Juan de Borbón abdicates, legitimizing monarchy of his son, Juan Carlos
• 6 November 1978 Constitution published
The Constitution
The Constitution
• Defined Spain as a social and democratic state ruled by law
The Constitution
• Defined Spain as a social and democratic state ruled by law
• Defined its political form as a parliamentary monarchy
The Constitution
• Defined Spain as a social and democratic state ruled by law
• Defined its political form as a parliamentary monarchy
• Guaranteed rights of the Spanish nationalities or regions to their autonomy
The Constitution
• Defined Spain as a social and democratic state ruled by law
• Defined its political form as a parliamentary
monarchy • Guaranteed rights of the Spanish nationalities or
regions to their autonomy • State had no official religion
The Constitution
• Guaranteed freedom of expression
The Outcome
• 15 April 1977 general elections held
• 14 May 1977 Juan de Borbón abdicates, legitimizing monarchy of his son, Juan Carlos
• 6 November 1978 Constitution published
The Outcome
• 15 April 1977 general elections held
• 14 May 1977 Juan de Borbón abdicates, legitimizing monarchy of his son, Juan Carlos
• 6 November 1978 Constitution published
• 29 December 1977 Suárez dissolves parliament and fixes new elections
The Outcome
• 1 March 1979 UCD wins election
The Outcome
• 1 March 1979 UCD wins election
• The old Cortes now replaced by the Congress and Senate
Turbulent times
Turbulent times
• Intense political activity
Turbulent times
• Intense political activity
• Strikes
Turbulent times
• Intense political activity
• Strikes
• Terrorism
Turbulent times
• Intense political activity
• Strikes
• Terrorism
• Recession and unemployment
Better against Franco?
Better against Franco?
• Desencanto
Better against Franco?
• Desencanto
• Pasotismo
Anxiety and Nostalgia
Anxiety and Nostalgia
• Unfinished Business, dir. José Luis Garcí, 1977
José
Elena
Anxiety and Nostalgia
• Unfinished Business, dir. José Luis Garcí, 1977
Anxiety and Nostalgia
• Unfinished Business, dir. José Luis Garcí, 1977
– Spanish title: Asignatura pendiente
Anxiety and Nostalgia
• Unfinished Business, dir. José Luis Garcí, 1977
– Spanish title: Asignatura pendiente
– Impact of politics on personal lives
Rafael
Anxiety and Nostalgia
• Unfinished Business, dir. José Luis Garcí, 1977
– Spanish title: Asignatura pendiente
– Impact of politics on personal lives
Anxiety and Nostalgia
• Unfinished Business, dir. José Luis Garcí, 1977
– Spanish title: Asignatura pendiente
– Impact of politics on personal lives
– Relationship to the past
Anxiety and Nostalgia
• Unfinished Business, dir. José Luis Garcí,
1977
– Spanish title: Asignatura pendiente
– Impact of politics on personal lives
–Relationship to the past
Anxiety and Nostalgia
–Uncertain future
Testimony
Testimony
• Seven Days in January, dir. Juan Antonio Bardem, 1979
Testimony
• Seven Days in January, dir. Juan Antonio Bardem, 1979
– Depiction of recent history (events in1977, centring on Atocha massacre on 24 January)
Testimony
• Seven Days in January, dir. Juan Antonio Bardem, 1979
– Depiction of recent history (events in1977, centring on Atocha massacre on 24 January)
– Use of real news footage
Testimony
• Seven Days in January, dir. Juan Antonio Bardem, 1979
– Depiction of recent history (events in1977, centring on Atocha massacre on 24 January)
– Use of real news footage
Testimony
• Seven Days in January, dir. Juan Antonio Bardem, 1979
– Depiction of recent history (events in1977, centring on Atocha massacre on 24 January)
– Use of real news footage
– Depiction and condemnation of extreme Right
Luis María
Testimony
• Depiction of Atocha massacre
Testimony
• Depiction of Atocha massacre
Testimony
• Depiction of Atocha massacre
• News footage of funeral
Disillusionment
Disillusionment
• Absent Love, Rosa Montero (1979)
Disillusionment
• Absent Love, Rosa Montero (1979)
– Spanish title: Crónica del desamor
Disillusionment
• Absent Love, Rosa Montero (1979)
– Spanish title: Crónica del desamor
– Set in contemporary Spain
Disillusionment
• Absent Love, Rosa Montero (1979)
– Spanish title: Crónica del desamor
– Set in contemporary Spain
– Flashbacks to Spain under Franco
Disillusionment
– Common ground with feminist-inspired novels of the 1970s
Disillusionment
– Common ground with feminist-inspired novels of the 1970s
– Introduces new themes into Spanish literature
Themes
Themes
• personal and emotional struggle of single parents
Themes
• personal and emotional struggle of single parents
• the burden on women in a country where contraception and abortion were illegal
Themes
• personal and emotional struggle of single parents
• the burden on women in a country where contraception and abortion were illegal
• false equation between liberation and sexual freedom
Themes
• personal and emotional struggle of single parents
• the burden on women in a country where contraception and abortion were illegal
• false equation between liberation and sexual freedom
• impossibility of sustaining long-term heterosexual relationships based on equality
Themes
• personal and emotional struggle of single parents
• the burden on women in a country where contraception and abortion were illegal
• false equation between liberation and sexual freedom
• impossibility of sustaining long-term heterosexual relationships based on equality
• plight of homosexuals in patriarchal society
Themes specific to the Transition
Themes specific to the Transition
• ambivalent attitude to progress made by democracy
Themes specific to the Transition
• ambivalent attitude to progress made by democracy
• sense that with democracy people have become complacent, even selfish
Themes specific to the Transition
• ambivalent attitude to progress made by democracy
• sense that with democracy people have become complacent, even selfish
• drug culture
Themes specific to the Transition
• ambivalent attitude to progress made by democracy
• sense that with democracy people have become complacent, even selfish
• drug culture
• individualism and self-interest versus cohesive, open and caring society
Today, while she nervously spies on him from afar, pretending to pore over some papers, Ana feels that sharp longing, that almost physical pang of emptiness you experience when you think you're in love.
It has been a month since her amazing discovery, and Ana still trembles whenever Soto Amón—so detached, so metallic—struts in. There, at the back of the room and totally unaware of her, the mighty Ramses smiles, poses, spins on his heels, and finally disappears out the door, painfully off limits.
"Neighbours—be at the demonstration on the twelfth." Ana has to reread the pamphlet she is holding in order to make any sense of it. It is an appeal from the Coordinator of Neighbourhood Associations to attend a demonstration against housing speculation, tonight at eight o'clock.
Ana sighs. Gone are the years of uncertainty and dread, years of rushing in panic from illegal demonstrations against Franco when she had forced herself to show up, her legs trembling with fear. Later came the death of the dictator, the so-called democracy, the apathy.
Ana thinks that the public disenchantment, so often mentioned lately, is an invention of the new government, the Christian Democratic party: it is much easier to manage a country of cynics than one of fervent activists. Nevertheless, while trying to fight the paralyzing inertia, she too is perplexed by the absurdity of it all.
Ana agrees with Elena's assessment, of course Ana agrees. The political parties are defunct, and new approaches are needed. The time is ripe for feminist caucuses, grassroots organizations, and common causes. Nevertheless, Ana will not be going to tonight's demonstration, nor will she attend the general rally that she knows to be absolutely right and necessary.
Crushed by a scepticism that sinks her into inaction, she betrays herself by indulging a make-believe love for Soto Amón, in an individual and solitary escape from the real issues.
Irreverence
Irreverence
• Pepi Luci Bom and Other Girls on the Heap, dir. Pedro Almodóvar, 1980
Irreverence
• Pepi Luci Bom and Other Girls on the Heap, dir. Pedro Almodóvar, 1980
– La movida
Irreverence
• Pepi Luci Bom and Other Girls on the Heap, dir. Pedro Almodóvar, 1980
– La movida
Irreverence
• Pepi Luci Bom and Other Girls on the Heap, dir. Pedro Almodóvar, 1980
– La movida
– Taboo and transgression
Irreverence
• Almodóvar and Fabio (Fanny) McNamara
Monja jamón