MEMORY AND NATION: THE POETRY OF THE REPUBLICAN EXILE OF 1939 BEFORE THE DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION

The poetry of the Republican exile of 1939 was judged on the basis of some cliches that led to the neutralization of its most critical components. Usually enclosed in the sphere of a time shift (melancholic and/or utopian), this poetry testifies an alleged detachment from the historical, political and cultural challenges of the Spain of its time. This reading also frequently included the Political Transition. After highlighting the critical possibilities of "reflective nostalgia" as an opening to the social and political dimension of memory, I analyse the cases of three exiled poets who wanted to join the project of the new nation that many wanted to build: Ernestina de Champourcin, Rafael Alberti and Jose Bergamin.