Women Political Prisoners after the Spanish Civi – Narratives of Resistance and Survival

At the end of the Spanish Civil War, the Nationalist government instigated mass repression against anyone suspected of loyalty to the defeated Republican side. Around 200,000 people were imprisoned for political crimes, including thousands of women who were charged with offences ranging from directing the home front to supporting their loved ones engaged in combat. Many women wrote and published texts about their experiences, seeking to make their voices heard and to counteract the dehumanising master narrative of the right-wing victors that had criminalised their existence. The memoirs of Communist women, such as Tomasa Cuevas and Juana Doa, have heavily influenced our understanding of life in prison for women under franquismo, while texts by non-Communist women have largely been ignored. Narratives of Resistance and Survival; offers a comparative study of the life writing of female political prisoners in Spain, focusing on six texts in particular: the two volumes of Crcel de mujeres; by Tomasa Cuevas; Desde la noche y la niebla; by Juana Doa; Rquiem por la libertad; by ngeles Garca Madrid; Abajo las dictaduras; by Josefa Garca Segret; and Aquello sucedi as; by ngeles Mal.