Portraying Homosexuality in Spanish Cinema and Television during the Franco Regime

Abstract

This paper analyzes how homosexuality was portrayed in Spanish cinema and television during the Franco dictatorship. Our findings show that three main strategies were used in order to elude the censor: concealing (using implicit references), caricature (exaggerating stereotypes) and appropriation (a priori re-reading of non-homosexual discourses). We also study how contemporary cinema and television portrays homosexuality as it was during Francoism, with trends such as the recovery of historical homosexual characters, a harsh reflection of the prevailing repression, and a defusing of the issue with the generation of discourses closer to contemporary rather than historical sensibility.