Mujeres de Ventas: women's prison writing in Franco's prisons

Parkes, Mia Christine (2020). Mujeres de Ventas: women's prison writing in Franco's prisons. University of Birmingham. M.A.

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Abstract

This thesis examines women’s political imprisonment in Franco’s Spain, focussing on the literary production of the inmates of the Cárcel de Ventas women’s prison in Madrid. In analysing the prison writings of Juana Doña, Mercedes Núñez Targa and Ángeles García Madrid, it proposes that these texts allow their authors to create a narrative space wherein the Republican female prisoner is able to re-construct and re-assert her own identity, selfhood and subjectivity in the face of imprisonment. In this sense, this work contends that the carceral testimony of these women stands as a form of resistance against the silencing frame of incarceration and Francoist repression. In its exploration of the construction of the self within each narrative, this thesis also analyses the narratives’ construction of solidarity, femininity and sincerity within the prison, arguing that these each constitute a means of opposing the dehumanisation of the Republican woman. Finally, combining an analysis of the testimonial text with a consideration of each author’s position as a subaltern subject during the time of the dictatorship, it proposes a new understanding of this subaltern position in a modern, twenty- first century context, which troubles the conception of the prisoner narrative as an unheard story. This research thus offers a new perspective on the Republican woman’s prison text, allowing for a thorough examination of its role as a view from inside of history.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.A.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.A.

Supervisor(s):