Capturing the Spanish Civil War through Literature

There is something prominently rebellious about the people of Barcelona.  In art and in individual style, there exists an embrace for what is weird and often dark, a rejection of glamour flourished by a desire to be unique. 

 

I wrote it off as ‘European,’ until I started my class on the history of Barcelona.  The people of Catalonia (of which Barcelona is the capital) had rebelled against coup d’etat leader Francisco Franco with a ferocious passion, and this city was among the last to fall in the Spanish Civil War.  Consequently, when Franco finally established himself as dictator, the Catalonian people were horribly oppressed – denied their language, ruled by a savage and corrupt government. My Catalonian teacher told me that her parents did not know how to read or write their native language, because it was not taught in the schools. 

 

While classes were helpful and Web sites informative, I found greater richness and encompassing knowledge through books.  These are three of the greatest I have discovered, not only informative and able to capture the spirit of this time and place, but fabulous reads outside of historic value. 

 

 

1. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón 

 

“Nothing feeds forgetfulness better than war, Daniel. We all keep quiet and they try to convince us that what we’ve seen, what we’ve done, what we’ve learned about ourselves and about others, is an illusion, a passing nightmare.  Wars have no memory, and nobody has the courage to understand them until there are no voices left to tell what happened, until the moment comes when we no longer recognize them and they return, with another face and another name, to devour everything they left behind.” 

Zafón  

 

The gorgeous story of a boy growing up in the weary remnants of Barcelona in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. This is an epic novel, that follows a ten-year-old boy through puberty and into young adulthood, through heartbreak, betrayal, shame, and discovery. The book has sold over seven million copies worldwide, and is the most successful Spanish novel to date.

 

In the beginning, a widowed father takes his son to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a place where “books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new reader’s hand.” In this secret library, the protagonist Daniel steps into the thematic mystery of the story after choosing the book The Shadow of the Wind, and discovering the book’s fiery past and mysteriously lost author. 

 

Stunning vernacular, haunting imagery, characters who are severely loved or hated according to Zafón’s manipulation – this is the story of how souls beyond hope sacrificed, so that one young boy might champion over desolation. 

 

       2.  For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

 

“Living was a hawk in the sky. Living was an earthen jar of water in the dust of the threshing with the grain flailed out and the chaff blowing.  Living was a horse between your legs and a carbine under one leg and a hill and a valley and a stream with trees along it and the far side of the valley and the hills beyond.”

Hemingway  

 

Over the three-year span of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), around 35,000 men and women left their homeland to make a stand against Fascism alongside the Loyalists. Spain had sent messages out all over Europe and America, begging for someone to come to their aid, but responses were slim. A little less than 3,000 Americans fresh off the Great Depression found sympathy with the Loyalists cause, and went to fight alongside them.  They were called the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.  

 

The protagonist of For Whom the Bell Tolls is one such American named Robert Jordan.  When the book opens the American is assigned to blow up a fascist-controlled bridge with the assistance of guerilla Republicans. Encircled by the now raging Spanish Civil War, the book follows Jordan through obstacles, betrayals, and romance while he plots the bridge explosion. 

 

As always, Hemingway’s dialogue is the literary star of the book, exhibiting conversations that are not hindered by “Jordan said” or “Pablo declared.”  Instead the conversations flow back and forth fluidly and between many, so the reader is often forced to determine the speaker’s identity on their own.  

 

Jordan’s mission is overshadowed by his internal battle over sacrifice for a foreign political movement, and occasionally by the racial bias of the side for whom he fights. As in so many of his other books, Hemingway illustrates the action and emotional trauma of war but still maintains a personal element, seen here through a soldier’s die-hard passion for a woman he hardly knows. 

 

The entire book spans over a mere few days, so Hemingway is able to profile each character and cast every aura with unhindered richness. 

 

One of Hemingway’s greatest triumphs, and a brilliant diary of an American gone Loyalist.

 

        3.Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell

 

“What the devil was happening, who was fighting whom and who was winning, was at first very difficult to discover.  The people of Barcelona are so used to street-fighting and so familiar with the local geography that they know by a kind of instinct which political party will hold which streets and which buildings.”

 

Being the last book I mention has nothing to do with the esteem in which I hold this book. The only non-fiction of my list, it is perhaps the best showcase of the Spanish Civil War and the intricate chaos of the Loyalist’ side. With so many different political forces fighting for one side, the Spanish Civil War can be a more than frustrating concept to grasp.  Orwell’s book has brilliant clarity and detail.

 

This is the personal diary of George Orwell, discussing his day-to-day ordeals as a member of the Republican party, outlining the beliefs and functions of the many groups under the Loyalist umbrella, and voicing his own political agenda. 

 

As part of the Socialist party, Orwell delves into the advantages and hinderances of functioning as a one-size-fits-all army.  The Socialist sought to avoid military titles, even to name a commander or leader, encouraging an everyman equality, an understandable idea especially in the face of a fascist enemy, but a difficult military strategy. 

 

Whether one is completely new to the Spanish Civil War or just struggling for a better understanding, this book would serve as the best teacher.