The Sound Portrait of a Dictator: A Study of Franco's image in Radio Nacional de España

Abstract

This article explores the process carried out by Spain’s state radio station -Radio Nacional de España- to devise the figure of Francisco Franco, first as a war hero, supreme chief of the rebel side of Spanish Civil War and, after the conflict ended, as a statesman and rebuilder of the Spanish nation, in his roles as head of state and Caudillo de España (leader of Spain). Through the examination of materials from newspapers, magazines, sound archives, censored scripts and administrative documentation, this research focuses on the capacity of state radio to adapt its discourse to convey the figure of a “charismatic” ruler that satisfies the needs of the Francoist regime to survive and legitimize itself. The article shows how state radio constructs a discourse around Franco arranged to the different speeds of the national and international political context that shook Spain, Europe and the occidental world from 1937 to 1961.