Humor as an effective form of resistance in Franko’ Spain

Abstract

From 1939 to 1975, Spain had to live under the dictatorial regime. This is the time when the Spanish state was ruled by General Francisco Franco Bahamonde and covers the period from the end of the Spanish Civil War, from 1939 until his death, to 1975. This era is also called the Franco era. The Franco government was known for its repressions, restriction of liberty, propaganda of its own ideology and censorship in almost every field, especially in literature. Censorship prohibited the publication of works that would be harmful or threatening to the established regime. During this period of Spanish history any cultural, communicative, ideological or creative activity was restricted. Censorship was mainly used by the ruling party as the main tool to restrict free thought and spread its ideology en masse. It was a protective tool of the ruling class to maintain the power.The established dictatorial regime was clearly influenced by German and Italian totalitarianism, which was manifested in working relationships, autocratic economic policy, aesthetics, the use of symbols, a one-party system, etc. Political repressions in the 1940s, strengthened the established dictatorial system. The existence of the art and the culture of that period was dependent upon the compliance with Franco's ideology. Nevertheless, authors with opposite ideologies (in literature: Carmen Laforet, Antonio Buero Vallejo, in painting: Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, in music: Carmelo Bernaola, Luis de Pablo, in cinema: Juan Antonio Bardem, Carlos Saura, Luis García Berlanga and others) created the best works of art. Among them were critical works of post-war society. Anti-Franco magazines were also created to enable the public to express themselves freely.In Spanish society during Franco´s regime, humor had a large place in terms of self-expression and criticism of the regime. Political humor was the response of individuals to dictatorial regime and censorship. Spreading anti-regime content jokes and funny stories allowed the public to alleviate the fear and sense of helplessness that was driven by the established political regime. Humor led to a restrained but constant critique of the current regime.The article discusses how Spanish society expressed social and political criticism through humor and describes the different forms of humor that took place during Francoism. The paper analyzes the Spanish humor of the Francisco Franco period as one of the most effective means of criticism of the government and escaping from the censorship.