Celia at the Revolation: A Different Perspective of the Spanish Civil War / Celia Devrim Günlerinde: İspanyol İç Savaşına Farklı Bir Bakış

Abstract

In 1928 Elena Fortún began to publish some collaborations in the children’s Sunday magazine Gente Menuda (Little People) in which Celia, an inquisitive and always wondering seven year-old girl, had the leading role. Those stories were the origin of one of Spanish children’s literature most famous sagas. They were published later in book format by Aguilar publishing house, but the series was stopped when Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. At the beginning of 1939 Fortún published the first book of the saga not previously serialized in newspapers: Celia, madrecita (Celia, Little Mother). In her exile in Buenos Aires she finished writing the next one: Celia en la revolución (Celia at the Revolution). However, this last book would not be published until 1987. In this paper we will focus specially in Celia at the Revolution given that the book provides us with a different vision about the Civil War. In the book Celia is a teenager who goes through different cities following her family and running from war. There are too the author’s own experiences and real facts. Narrated in first person point of view, offers a quite impartial perspective of the conflict because the objective was to narrate the reality of war more than simply justify or defend any of the sides.

Keywords

• children’s and youth literature
• Elena Fortún
• Celia
• Spanish civil war