The Antifascist Chronicles of Aurelio Pego: A Critical Anthology

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"The Antifascist Chronicles of Aurelio Pego. A Critical Anthology collects and contextualizes Pego's 118 literary chronicles published between 1940 and 1967 in the periodical, Espa�na Libre, New York. The satire of this household name in the US Spanish-language press lambasted Fascist Spain, lampooned American diplomatic relations with Francisco Franco, and mocked the Spanish exiles' unsuccessful efforts to liberate Spain from the dictator. Pego's journalism showed deep dedication to the public good with his publication of uncensored information about the regime that alerted readers of the civil rights infringements in Fascist Spain. However, Pego delivered the hard truths of Fascist Spain cloaked in mockery. Humor was crucial in this political culture not only because it facilitated communicating Spanish news but also avoided mythical and totalitarian rhetorical resistance. The fragility of the alternative periodicals' paper and the political persecution against dissident voices has caused that much of this antifascist print culture has been lost. However, Pego's chronicles prove that US Hispanic antifascism was vibrant. The anthology puts forward the understudied work of antifascists in the United States and provides evidence of their activism. Its preservation is an exercise of collective memory and a place of resistance to an elitist and fascist archive"-- Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Critical Introduction: Aurelio Pego, the Satirical Chronicler of Fascist Spain Aurelio Pego Methodology and Theoretical Grounding First Part: Mocking Fascists Mocking El Caudillo (Francisco Franco Bahamonde) Mocking the Fascist State: Hunger, Terror, Military Parades, and Censorship Mocking National Catholicism Mocking the Imperial and Global Politics of Spanish Fascism Second Part. Mocking Antifascists Mocking Americans and International Powers Mocking Spanish Exiles and the Underground Resistance Roque Barca: the Last Decades of the Dictatorship Epilogue: Antifascist Sentiment Notes Part I Mocking Fascists Section 1.1 Mocking El Caudillo (Francisco Franco Bahamonde) Is Franco Like Hitler? (30 September 1949) And His Stomach is Not Upset! (28 November 1952) Now, He Wants to Be a Father (27 February 1953) Now, He Kills Fish (21 October 1955) The Wretched Life of the Caudillo (21 November 1952) They Are Getting Fat! (3 October 1958) 59 Years of Franco (14 December 1951) The Brave Generalísimo is Fearful (7 December 1956) Yes, Indeed, an Example (4 October 1963) A Dictator Without Solace (17 April 1953) A Worn-Out Dictatorship (7 December 1962) Notes Section 1.2 Mocking the Fascist State: Hunger, Terror, Military Parades, and Censorship The Poor Are Already Here (11 July 1947) The Lingering Lady Economy (2 July 1948) 15 Disgusting Days in Spain (14 October 1949) Tonight, It’s Christmas Eve (23 December 1949) Potato Immigration (24 February 1950) With You, Even Without Bread and Onions (31 October 1952) People Eat When There’s Food (5 July 1957) Learning to Read? For What? (17 February 1950) Sympathy and Criminals (3 November 1944) Yes, Well, His Hands Are Blood-Stained (15 May 1948) Two Dead … Presentes! (3 May 1957) They Live Better, Die Better (6 March 1959) Political Prisoners? (2 October 1959) The Decree of Fear (2 December 1960) Civil Guards in Jeeps (19 June 1953) The Victory … of Whom? (May–July 1973) Ten Disobeyed Commandments (9 June 1950) The Great Tavern Keeper of Spain (16 January 1953) Oh No, Not Violence! (1 May 1953) Crying for Our Writers (3 July 1953) The Corpses Resurrect (18 October 1957) Literature of Gentlemen (7 March 1958) Note Section 1.3 Mocking National Catholicism and the Imperial Politics of Spanish Fascism Prohibited Masks? (3 March 1944) The Church and Hygiene (14 April 1944) A Virgin With Command (7 April 1950) Priests and Prostitutes (20 July 1951) Canticle Mass and Champagne (7 August 1953) Thanks to the Republic, They Go to Heaven (6 January 1956) Motorized Priests (4 May 1956) Hitler Needs a Girlfriend (20 September 1940) Praying to God But… (5 September 1952) Hitler in the Metropolitan? (18 May 1945) Candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize (16 October 1953) Like Lost Souls (5 December 1941) Colombia on Franco’s Agenda (3 October 1952) 3,500 Dollars of “Truths” (14 January 1949) A Pro-Franco Man Who is Not (17 March 1950) The Disciple Who Did Not Learn (10 July 1953) A Matchmaker, a Mayor, and a Greeting (22 August 1952) Franco is in the Nude (14 July 1944) The Tricky Problem of Succession (18 September 1953) Another Symptom of the Crab Regime (17 August 1962) Note Part II Mocking Antifascists Section 2.1 Mocking Americans and International Powers The Alarm Went Off! (4 February 1944) The Boogeyman of Communism (24 March 1950) George Washington Leaves Spain (22 June 1951) The Ambassador of the Epitaphs (13 July 1951) Very Friendly But Very Unlucky (17 August 1951) The Amazing Liberalization of the Regime (15 January 1952) Entrance Fee (5 December 1952) Don Patricio and His Head (23 May 1952) Washington’s Bulls (25 September 1953) The Guarantors of the Future (13 November 1953) Propagandist Tubercles? (11 April 1952) Rains and Tourists Arrived (10 October 1952) Cover Charge: $125,000,000 (15 August 1952) The Funny Yankee Danger (24 October 1952) Call a Spade a Spade (17 January 1958) The Sixth Fleet in Sight! (4 January 1952) Blame the Other (15 August 1958) Note Section 2.2 Mocking the Exiles and the Underground Resistance A Republic of Lovers (12 April 1940) A Storm of Words is Coming (24 September 1943) Republics in Bulk (23 June 1944) The Spiritualist Rally at the Madison Square Garden (12 January 1945) The Heat is Pro-Franco (11 June 1948) Dear Hated Man (España Libre, Toulouse, 19 October 1948) For Those Who Lie (11 February 1949) Sweating in Havana (29 September 1950) Do we Resurrect it or do we Have a Wake? (13 April 1951) It’s a Matter of Getting Started (27 April 1951) Hunger as a Political Weapon (25 January 1952) Going North to Reach the South (28 March 1952) The Support That Did Not Arrive (4 April 1952) To Steal From a Thief (19 September 1952) An Instrument of Revolutionary Action (26 September 1952) Walking Cowardice (12 December 1952) He Will Grow a Humpback (2 January 1953) What Has Happened After 22 Years? (10 April 1953) Poor Us! (22 May 1953) The Heroic Republican Emigration (17 July 1953) Let’s Find Another Tactic, General (18 April 1958) I Want to Know How (20 June 1958) The Ill-Fitting Shoes (17 October 1958) We Are the Last on Eggs (21 November 1958) Prayers or Explosives? (16 May 1947) The Exquisite Art of Murder (11 August 1950) What Are we Waiting For? (19 April 1957) Twenty Years From Now? What an Optimist! (4 December 1959) The Fall of Franco (19 February 1960) Will They Really End With all the Rats? (6 May 1966) Notes Section 2.3 Roque Barca: The Last Decades of the Dictatorship What’s in the Books! (15 February 1957) The Cassock of Iron (4 June 1957) Don’t Let Him Be (1 November 1957) The Passive Brigade (21 March 1958) The Mysterious Gland (18 July 1958) Roque Sows the Seeds of Fear (2 January 1959) A Double-Edged Acronym (3 April 1959) Recruiting Soldiers for the Revolution (6 November 1959) Sowing Confusion (3 June 1960) Looking for the Portuguese (2 March 1962) In Today’s Spain There is More (2 June 1967) Notes Epilogue: Antifascist Sentiment Doctor in Antifascism (31 March 1944) Actress of the People (17 February 1948) A Heroine and the Ungrateful (4 June 1948) Who Kills Them? (28 January 1949) Anti-Francoism is Not the Same as Poker (4 July 1952) Don Félix Like a Snail (1 March 1957) Bibliography Index