Better Against Franco? - King's College London · Better Against Franco? Cultural Responses to...

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


• 22 November 1975 Juan Carlos takes oath and becomes king

The Transition


• 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


– real reform

The Opposition


– real reform

– amnesty for all political prisoners

The Opposition


– real reform


– legalization of all political parties

The Opposition


– real reform



– dismantlement of the institutions of Franco

The Opposition


– real reform




– free trade unions

The Opposition


– real reform





– free elections to a constituent assembly

The Opposition


– real reform





– 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


• 8 August 1976 Suárez forms new government

Negotiated Change


• 8 August 1976 Suárez forms new government

• 10 September 1976 Law for Political Reform approved

Negotiated Change


• 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


• 4 March 1977 strikes are legalized

The Negotiation



• 1 April 1977 decree passed allowing Union association

The Negotiation



• 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


The Outcome


• 14 May 1977 Juan de Borbón abdicates, legitimizing monarchy of his son, Juan Carlos

The Outcome



• 6 November 1978 Constitution published

The Constitution

The Constitution

• Defined Spain as a social and democratic state ruled by law

The Constitution


• Defined its political form as a parliamentary monarchy

The Constitution


• Defined its political form as a parliamentary monarchy

• Guaranteed rights of the Spanish nationalities or regions to their autonomy

The Constitution


• 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




The Outcome




• 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


• Strikes

Turbulent times


• Strikes

• Terrorism

Turbulent times


• Strikes

• Terrorism

• Recession and unemployment

Better against Franco?


• Desencanto


• Desencanto

• Pasotismo

Anxiety and Nostalgia


• Unfinished Business, dir. José Luis Garcí, 1977



– Spanish title: Asignatura pendiente




– Impact of politics on personal lives

Rafael





– Relationship to the past


• Unfinished Business, dir. José Luis Garcí,

1977



–Relationship to the past


–Uncertain future

Testimony

Testimony

• Seven Days in January, dir. Juan Antonio Bardem, 1979

Testimony


– Depiction of recent history (events in1977, centring on Atocha massacre on 24 January)

Testimony



– Use of real news footage

Testimony



– Use of real news footage

– Depiction and condemnation of extreme Right

Luis María

Testimony

• Depiction of Atocha massacre

Testimony

• Depiction of Atocha massacre

• News footage of funeral

Disillusionment

Disillusionment

• Absent Love, Rosa Montero (1979)

Disillusionment


– Spanish title: Crónica del desamor

Disillusionment



– Set in contemporary Spain

Disillusionment



– 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


• the burden on women in a country where contraception and abortion were illegal

Themes



• false equation between liberation and sexual freedom

Themes




• impossibility of sustaining long-term heterosexual relationships based on equality

Themes




• impossibility of sustaining long-term heterosexual relationships based on equality

• plight of homosexuals in patriarchal society

Themes specific to the Transition


• ambivalent attitude to progress made by democracy



• sense that with democracy people have become complacent, even selfish




• drug culture




• 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


– La movida

Irreverence


– La movida

– Taboo and transgression

Irreverence

• Almodóvar and Fabio (Fanny) McNamara

Monja jamón

Better Against Franco? - King's College London · Better Against Franco? Cultural Responses to...

Documents

Transcript of Better Against Franco? - King's College London · Better Against Franco? Cultural Responses to...