Prohibition, tolerance, co-option: cultural appropriation and Francoism in Catalonia, 1939-75

Dowling, Andrew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0674-4687 2018. Prohibition, tolerance, co-option: cultural appropriation and Francoism in Catalonia, 1939-75. Contemporary European History 27 (3) , pp. 370-386. 10.1017/S0960777318000267

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Abstract

Dictatorships, autocracies and authoritarian political systems must adapt if they wish to survive. The long-lasting dictatorship of Franco's Spain (1939–75) underwent a series of internal adaptations during its almost forty years of existence. The initial project of the Franco regime, which included the destruction of its social and political enemies, lasted until the end of the Second World War. The second phase, marked by a failed autarkic experiment, ended in 1959. The economic change that followed entailed a moderate opening in political terms, whilst maintaining a dictatorial apparatus. This article examines a further feature in the evolution of the Franco regime which initially sought to impose a monolithic national identity (Spanish) by means of the repression of its national minorities (Basque, Catalan, Galician and so on). Due to the absence of a violent political movement as existed in the Basque Country in the form of ETA, Catalonia is a particularly fruitful source to examine the shifts that took place in the Franco regime's policy towards Spain's historic nationalities. This article focuses on the intermediate spaces that appeared between overt opposition on the one hand and active collaboration on the other. This article assesses the evolving policy towards Catalan culture and identity during the dictatorship. I find three main phases in the regime's strategy: repression, followed by comparative tolerance with a final phase of the co-option of Catalan culture, for the purposes of regime legitimation.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Modern Languages
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DP Spain J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe)
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press (CUP)
ISSN:	0960-7773
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 June 2016
Date of Acceptance:	31 May 2016
Last Modified:	23 Nov 2024 08:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/91952

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