The Image of the Second Spanish Republic on the Pages of the Franco Encyclopedic Dictionary: Cancel Culture or the Beginning of Reconciliation

Abstract

The Abridged Encyclopedic Dictionary of Espasa-Calpe (Diccionario enciclopédico abreviado Espasa-Calpe) is one of the most popular and widespread encyclopedic publications in the Ibero-American world. In the 1950s it went through several editions, but retained all the official ideological guidelines of the Francoist regime. The purpose of this work is to identify, using the material presented in the entries of the Espasa-Calpe dictionary of the 1957 edition, the specifics of the perception of the Second Spanish Republic and its cultural heritage by the Francoist official ideology during the transition from the «first» to the «second Francoism», to assess the influence of the «cancel culture» politics towards the republican past and reflect the initial attempts to «reconcile» with it. The work uses a systematic approach, implemented through the use of traditional historical and interdisciplinary methods, as well as the textual method and content analysis. This study allows us to conclude that in the mid-1950s some of the Francoist ideological concepts formed during the civil war and in the early 1940s were preserved. They reflected in «cancelling» the republican culture and erasure of names and biographical facts of its representatives. At the same time, a number of entries in the dictionary, as well as some facts and names mentioned there, make it possible to discern certain changes, aimed at the partial return and rehabilitation of the republican heritage as a significant part of the integral Spanish culture.

Keywords

• spain
• espasa-calpe abbreviated encyclopedic dictionary
• francoism
• second spanish republic
• cultural heritage
• image of the enemy
• reconciliation