Humour in the post-war press: short stories of Gloria Fuertes in the falangist magazine Maravillas

Abstract

The Spanish civil war entailed an impasse in the development of press as a communication platform. In fact, its instrumentalization for propaganda purposes explains its role in the consolidation of the new State. So, in the newspaper network created around the Movimiento Nacional (National Movement), the children’s press occupied a predominant place due to its contribution to the education of future generations. So much so, that the strategical-ideological aims imposed by the regime coexisted in these platforms together with the collaboration of artists of prominent aesthetical level. Such is the case of Gloria Fuertes (1917-1998), who gave life in the magazine Maravillas, to very popular characters such as Coleta and Pelines to disseminate their short stories once more, back in the eighties, in three monographic books: Coleta, la poeta (1982), Coleta, payasa ¿qué pasa? (1983) and Pelines (1986). However, such protagonists, beyond constituting aesthetical projections of the writer as heteronyms, would end up becoming authentic icons of children’s imagery.