generalities and does not seek to fit the perspectives of female subjects into a history already written from an androcentric , nationalist and partisan point of view ? How can we integrate multiple trajectories , militant experiences of varying degrees and maladjusted discourses into a univocal account of the Resistance ? We must start by entering into these experiences and interpreting them in context , not only to “ fill in the gaps ”, but also to problematise the process of memorial simplification .
The coup d ’ état by conservative forces against the Second Spanish Republic marked the beginning of a civil war and accelerated the politicisation of broad sectors of society in the fight against the international fascism of the 1930s . Moreover , for women , the Republic had signified , on the one hand , access to political citizenship and , on the other , the exercise of that citizenship through politicisation , commitment and progressive presence in public spaces . Thus , the women who had played a leading role in the cultural and political avant-garde of those years were also at the forefront of Republican
resistance during the Spanish Civil War , whether as militia ( wo ) men in the first months of the war , on the so-called work front , or in political or humanitarian functions . Some of them continued their lives and political careers in exile and joining the Resistance did not involve a break with the actions and decisions they had taken during the war in Spain or before . This marks a difference with what historians of women ’ s participation in the Resistance in France have called a “ paradox ” in the commitment of French women , who , despite not having rights as citizens ( the right to vote ), demonstrated their dedication as true citizens through their actions .
Published in Spanish in 1984 and later in French , the testimony of Neus Català and the 43 other Spanish women who took part in the Resistance , some of whom were also deported , remains one of the main sources for studying and understanding the experiences and role of Republican women fighters in France . Most of these women , including Neus Català , arrived in France between 1936 and 1939 , when the fall of Catalonia and the
2 . Neus Català during an exhibition | Fundació Pere Ardiaca , CC NonCommercial-ShareAlike
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Observing Memories Issue 8