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Fighting Fascist Spain

Fighting Fascist Spain

Worker Protest from the Printing Press

by Montse Feu

Published by: University of Illinois Press

Imprint: University of Illinois Press

10 black & white photographs, 1 table

Digital download
9780252052125
Published: May 2020

Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

In the 1930s, anarchists and socialists among Spanish immigrants living in the United States created España Libre (Free Spain) as a response to the Nationalist takeover in their homeland. Worker-oriented and avowedly antifascist, the grassroots periodical raised money for refugees and political prisoners while advancing left-wing culture and politics. España Libre proved both visionary and durable, charting an alternate path toward a modern Spain and enduring until democracy's return to the country in 1977.

Montse Feu merges España Libre's story with the drama of the Spanish immigrant community's fight against fascism. The periodical emerged as part of a transnational effort to link migrants and new exiles living in the United States to antifascist networks abroad. In addition to showing how workers' culture and politics shaped their antifascism, Feu brings to light creative works that ranged from literature to satire to cartoons to theater. As España Libre opened up radical practices, it encouraged allies to reject violence in favor of social revolution's potential for joy and inclusion.

Cover

Title

Contents

List of Organizations

Spanish Terms

Principal Authors and Activists, España Libre

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The SHC’s Opposition to Spanish Fascism

Part One. Print Culture, Activism, and Solidarity

1. Transnational Networks of Support

2. España Libre, the Antifascist Periodical

3. España Libre and Its Editors

4. The Struggle against Deportations

5. Solidarity for Political Prisoners

Part Two. Literary Representations and Aesthetics

6. We, the Antifascist People

7. Theater—Género Chico and Antifascism

8. Aurelio Pego, Antifascist Satirical Chronicler

9. Damned Cartoons! Workers’ Identity and Resistance

Conclusion: The SHC’s Antifascist Legacy

A. SHC-Affiliated Association

B. Supporting Networks and Actors

C. Sporadic Contributors, Writers, and Reprinted Authors

D. Aided Refugees and Political Prisoners

E. Popular Plays and Zarzuelas Produced by the SHC, 1939–1977

F. Original Antifascist and Exile Plays, 1937–1950

G. Regular Speakers and Performers, 1937–1977, and Their Roles

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Back cover

Montse Feu is an associate professor of Hispanic studies and co-advisor of graduate studies for the Spanish program at Sam Houston State University. She is coeditor of Writing Revolution: Hispanic Anarchism in the United States.

"Fighting Fascist Spain elucidates the courage, creativity, and endurance necessary to keep this publication, its community, and its cause alive through decades of setbacks for antifascist Spanish exiles, both in their adopted homes in the United States and in Spain. . . . Feu's book reanimates a unique, print-based approach to resisting fascism and promoting democracy during that period while providing lessons that inform our understanding of the relationship between media, democracy, and resistance today." --American Periodicals

”In this groundbreaking book, Montse Feu brings together a story of immigrants, print media, and transnational solidarity. Through meticulous archival research, Feu is able to craft a fascinating interwoven history about grassroots activism, anti-fascist organizing, and the global circulation of radical media from the perspective of Spanish immigrants in the United States. The book is also an important contribution to the bourgeoning scholarship on the Spanish Civil War’s impact across the Americas.”—Jorell A. Meléndez-Badillo, Dartmouth College

”An important, deeply researched, and well-written book. Feu has given us the definitive work on Spanish Civil War exiles in the United States.”—Kenyon Zimmer, author of Immigrants against the State: Yiddish and Italian Anarchism in America