Abstract
As this interesting volume reminds us, the structural similarities between the authoritarian right-wing regimes of the Iberian Peninsula and the communist regimes of Eastern Europe offer a useful starting point for comparative media analysis. Focusing on periodical publications in Francoist Spain and Communist Romania, the contributions commissioned by Fătu-Tutoveanu and Jarazo-Álvarez examine a wide range of periodical publications published in the two countries, as well as offer more general reflections on the challenges of comparative media analysis in non-democratic regimes. This book opens with a set of articles aimed at laying out a broad comparative framework for the rest of the volume: Amara Quey and Marin offer a historical overview of Francoism and Communism, Abraham scrutinises the usefulness of totalitarianism and fascism as conceptual frameworks for the comparative analysis of the two countries and Amaya Quer provides a comparative analysis of the development of propaganda systems in the two countries. The second section turns to case studies of periodical press from Francoist Spain, covering literary journalism (Jarazo-Álvarez), the phenomenon of Anglophilia in Spanish Francoist press (Domínguez Romero), the rise of pro-German press and literature in Galicia during World War I (Evans Prim), the fate of Galician press in the first half of the 20th century (Healy) and the Spanish press coverage of US syndicalism (Arroyo Vázquez). The last section comprises contributions examining periodical press in communist Romania, ranging from cultural periodicals (Fătu-Tutoveanu) and women’s magazines (Marin) to historical magazines (Mihalache) and local press (D. Nazare) as well as libraries (D. Nazare), and considering their involvement in the construction of political discourses, gender and political identities, as well as the functioning of censorship. Although many of the single-country studies are illuminating in themselves, the reader is left wondering how they fit with the comparative aims of the volume – an issue that could have been addressed by a concluding chapter designed to tease out and synthesise the similarities and differences revealed by the different contributions.