Conrad Vilanou

Educational discourse in Spain during the early Franco regime (1936–1943): toward a genealogy of doctrine and concepts

In this article an analysis is undertaken of Spanish educational discourse during the early years of the Franco regime, from the Civil War (1936–1939) to the establishment of the Nuevo Estado or New State (1939–1943), employing Reinhart Koselleck’s principles of conceptual history. Without totally spurning the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the new regime, this educational discourse constructed an imagined community of España Nacional (Nationalist Spain) by means of a historical narrative that began with the uprising led by General Franco in July 1936. The discourse sought to recover the importance of the nation’s traditions so as to promote a conceptual and symbolic imaginary that might lead to the re-Christianisation and Hispanisation of society, based firmly on a providential vision of Spain’s history. It rejected the ideas of modern pedagogy in favour of an education based on the essential elements of the fatherland, namely, the Catholic faith and the imperial mission embodied in the idea of Hispanidad (a community of Spanish-speaking peoples), and understood as a spiritual message that would redeem humanity.

Inhabiting culture: Spanish anarchists’ vision of cultural learning through aesthetics in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

Abstract Revisions of textual and audio-visual materials reveal the educational vision of Spanish anarchists. Through research, we have discovered the importance of aesthetical education and art in general for this protest political party. By studying the three key historical moments of the movement (1868–1939/ 1901–1910/ 1910–1936–1939) we have traced the evolution of the concept and practice of cultural learning. What stands out in the origins of the movement is the concern to introduce art and culture into school subjects while disseminating this knowledge to the whole population. Later, when the Modern School opened, the arts were introduced into the syllabus of teaching-learning. The aesthetic principles defended in the first period were turned into literary works with the aim of educating children from rationalist schools. Finally, we identify a time when the materials created by the Modern School were disseminated to working-class schools as a form of resistance against the politics proposed by government parties. The outbreak of the Civil War turned the corpus of aesthetical education into a cultural programme of demilitarised political resistance.