Letras Hispanas Volume 15, 2019

Title: Las Cortes republicanas durante la Guerra Civil: 1936, Valencia 1937 y 1938 Author: Matilde de la Torre Publisher: Fondo de Cultura Económica Year: 2017 Author of the review: Foster Chamberlin, Boğaziçi University

The accumulation of the now almost of her meager accommodations or of the halls endless quantity of books about the Spanish where the different sessions took place. These Civil War began soon after the war was over. descriptions at times seem melodramatic, Seemingly every diputado in exile published but at other times they are moving, such as a memoir describing his or her personal ex- when she observes all the vacant seats of the perience and arguing about how the war deputies killed in the war. De la Torre is at her started and how the Republic lost. Yet Matil- best in yet other passages where she serves as de de la Torre’s reflections on three sessions an astute political observer. Not only do her of the wartime Cortes offer unique insights character descriptions offer insights for biog- to scholars of the period in a format that is raphers into the personalities of such figures far from an ordinary memoir. Matilde de la as Indalecio Prieto and Dolores Ibárruri “la Torre Gutiérrez was a Cantabrian writer and Pasionaria,” but also her political commen- journalist and from 1933 a Socialist diputada taries present nuanced observations on such for Asturias. Retreating before the advancing questions as the Basque autonomy statute and Nationalist forces, the Cortes took on an itin- the Prieto-Juan Negrín feud. While most of erant air as it moved from Madrid to Valen- her opinions echo the standard Socialist pro- cia to Barcelona over the course of the war. gram, her work reminds the reader that the In the three essays collected in this volume, lines between the Prieto and Negrín factions De la Torre focuses on just one session from or between the Socialists and Communists each of these three locations. This technique were not as hard as one might imagine. She allows her plenty of room for description and defends the intentions of both Prieto and Ne- digression while maintaining a unity to her grín and expresses a measured sympathy for story in a way that a standard political mem- the Communist Party, from which she counts oir attempting to cover the entire three-year Ibárruri and Margarita Nelken as friends. war might not be able to achieve. While De la Torre does describe a close- Given this unusual format, De la Torre’s ness with these fellow female deputies, schol- accounts will appeal to literary scholars in- ars looking for discussion of her experience terested in the blends of genres that emerged as a woman in the male-dominated sphere from the left-wing propagandists of 1930s of Republican politics may be disappointed. . On one page, De la Torre might repli- Like other female politicians of the time, she cate the typical Socialist rhetoric of El Socialis- seems to feel that consideration of the “wom- ta. On the next page, the narrative might read en’s question” should be put on hold so that all more like a novel, with extended descriptions efforts may be dedicated to the pursuit of the ISSN: 1548-5633 140 Letras Hispanas Volume 15 war. Indeed, her main arguments throughout Frutos, prudently limits herself to correct- her book are that the war must continue to ing typographical errors and the like when be fought and the institutions of transcribing these unedited manuscripts for maintained at all costs. However, reading be- publication. Vilches-de Frutos’ introduction tween the lines, a gendered analysis of this text highlights in a clear and insightful man- could be conducted. She seems to be seeking ner what De la Torre’s text offers to scholars. to strike a balance between showing that she Vilches-de Frutos also adds footnotes that are put on a brave face in those difficult times and for the most part limited to basic biographi- that she experienced the emotions expected cal information about the people mentioned of her as a woman. For example, she is about in the text. Unfortunately, these footnotes to cry when she thinks of the fallen deputies do not provide enough background for the mentioned earlier, but another representative non-specialist reader to understand all of De cautions her that “no es el momento,” and she la Torre’s references. Nevertheless, this edi- responds “no soy más que una mujer” (89). tion does those studying the civil war a great It is a surprising reply from a feminist activ- service by making De la Torre’s work acces- ist, but one that highlights the extent to which sible for the first time. And the researcher will female leaders were willing to play more tra- find plenty to be discovered here: colorful ditional women’s roles during the war. anecdote, political insight and above all, the This edition publishes De la Torre’s reflections of a woman struggling to find -hu reflections on the wartime Cortes for the manity and even humor in one of the darkest first time. The editor, Francisca Vilches-de periods in Spain’s history.