New Protagonists for New Times: The Televisión Dramas of Josefina Molina and Pilar Miró Featured on Novela during the Spanish Transition to Democracy

Abstract

This article examines the television adaptations directed and/or written by the Spanish creators Pilar Miró and Josefina Molina during the period from 1974 to 1981 for the program Novela (TVE: 1962-1979). The four productions discusses—Miró’s Los enemigos (1974) and Pequeño teatro (1977); and Molina’s Aire frío (1974) and El camino (1978)—have been largely forgotten despite their historiographical value. In view of their significant influence on audiences of the period, this study proposes a reflection on the discourses and representations of gender presented in these fictional narratives. From a gender perspective, television during Spain’s transition to democracy played a crucial role in the promotion of new social realities by exploring, questioning and challenging the new roles being adopted by women at the time. The analysis of these dramas can shed light on the feminist discourses articulated by the creators, which may be viewed as a reflection of the political and social transformations taking place during the democratic transition (such as the improvement of the status of women in the Spanish political and social context) with the aim of fulfilling TVE’s pedagogical mission to promote the country’s new democratic values.