Remember the Alcazar! The creation of nationalist myths in the Spanish Civil War: The writings of Robert Brasillach

Abstract

This article analyses the process of the construction of nationalist myths in the writings of French writer Robert Brasillach on the Spanish Civil War. Brasillach consistently presented the war through romanticised images that he intended to become nationalist myths. In particular, he built into his work a set of markers pointing to medieval epic poetry, which he thought embodied the Spanish – and French – national character. Brasillach envisioned a three-part process wherein myths mobilise the masses and inspire an elite to carry out new acts of heroism, which are then repackaged and presented, through commemoration, as new mythic images. Finally, individuals integrate these mythic images with their own memories, thus placing their lives within the national tradition.