A estetização da política dentro do Franquismo: um estudo a partir de Raza (1942)

Abstract

Between 1936 and 1939, Spain was afflicted by the Spanish Civil War, which ended with the nationalist victory and the establishment of the Franco regime. Consequently, the need to legitimize both the regime and the conflict arose. One of the methods used for this legitimization was cinema, as it had the power to assert itself. Thus, this work seeks to understand how the Franco regime instrumentalized cinema as a propaganda tool through an analysis of Raza (1942), a film directed by José Luis Sáenz de Heredia and based on a homonymous written by Jaime de Andrade, a pseudonym for Francisco Franco. The analysis primarily drew upon Walter Benjamin's concept of the aestheticization of politics and followed the method of film analysis developed by Rafael Hansen Quinsani. Accordingly, it was found that in its effort to legitimize the Franco regime, Raza attempts to rewrite the Spanish Civil War and creates an idealized image of Spain and Spanish people. Similarly, the film portrays the Republicans as the 'anti-Spain,' thereby legitimizing the persecution and terror they endured.