The Representation of the Combatant Woman in Rafael Alberti’s “La miliciana del Tajo (Balada)” (1938).

Poetic Tradition and Popular Imagination

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2317-9651.i30p162-182

Keywords:

Spanish Civil War, Propaganda Literature, Republican Poetics, Rafael Alberti, Militiawoman

Abstract

This article analyzes the representation of the militiawoman in “La miliciana del Tajo (Balada)” (1938) by Rafael Alberti published in El Mono Azul within the context of the Spanish Civil War. It examines the literary and cultural tradition that informs the republican poetics (Golden Age Spanish literature) and explores how the figure of the militiawoman reflects the author’s nostalgia of the spontaneous people’s resistance, as well as the era’s gender ideals and the shifts brought about by the war. Alberti reinterprets the tragic destiny of the female fighter as symbol that dialogues with Spanish literary heritage, with the popular imagination regarding female life stories and with the collective imagination surrounding the Republic and the Spanish people's resistance.

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Author Biography

  • Virginia Bonatto, National University of La Plata

    Doctora en Letras por la Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP), Profesora Adjunta de Introducción a la Literatura y de Teoría Literaria II. Investigadora en el Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones en Género, Instituto de Investigaciones en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (UNLP-CONICET).

References

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Bonatto, Virginia. “Representaciones de milicianas en «Rosario, dinamitera» de Miguel Hernández y en Contra viento y marea de María Teresa León. Bajo el mito y la sospecha”. En: Clepsydra. Revista de Estudios de Género y Teoría Feminista, 18, 2019 59–83.

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Yusta Rodrigo, Mercedes. “Con armas frente a Franco. Mujeres guerrilleras en la España de posguerra”. En: Yusta Rodrigo, Mercedes.; Peiró, Ignacio (Eds.). Heterodoxas, guerrilleras y ciudadanas. Resistencias femeninas en la España moderna y contemporánea. Zaragoza: Institución «Fernando el Católico», 2015. 175–196.

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Published

2025-12-19

Issue

No. 30 (2025): Dossiê: Em torno aos 100 anos de Marinero en tierra, de Rafael Alberti: leituras e releituras

Section

Dossier

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Copyright (c) 2025 Virginia Bonatto

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How to Cite

BONATTO, Virginia. The Representation of the Combatant Woman in Rafael Alberti’s “La miliciana del Tajo (Balada)” (1938).: Poetic Tradition and Popular Imagination. Caracol, São Paulo, Brasil, n. 30, p. 162–182, 2025. DOI: 10.11606/issn.2317-9651.i30p162-182. Disponível em: https://revistas.usp.br/caracol/article/view/231221. Acesso em: 6 feb. 2026.