Censorship and Translation in the Franco Regime (1939-1975): The Case of Literature for Children and Young Adults

Abstract

[eng] This dissertation analyses the situation of literature for children and young adults (LCYA) in the context of Spain during the Franciso Franco dictatorial regime (1939-1975). The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of censorship and its agents on this type of literature. This study explores the role that censorship performs in Spain during this period and how it affected, writers, publishers, and translators, among others. For this, the concept of censorship is explained within the context of cultural and political repression in the country. The legal aspects of censorship and the role of all agents involved in the censoring process are used to observe the evolution of the attitude of censorship as a whole towards foreign publications intended for children and teenagers like George Orwell's Animal Farm (1945) and Richmal Crompton's series of books Just William (1922). The comparison of the situation of both works is key to understand that censors had no full power of decision when analysing a book since the decision of one censor could be revoked by other censors, without forgetting that the Head of censorship had the last say. Also, this study allows us to observe how in the case of Animal Farm there is a case of plagiarism between different translators rather than a problematic concerning censorship. In contrast, Just William was successfully published in Spanish until 1942, the year in which reports begin to change its perspective about Crompton's books. The censorship applied on the Just William series still prevails nowadays since recent versions keep the same removed passages, which makes us realize there is further investigation to be done in order to prevent children and teenagers from reading censored stories from 70 years ago.