Barbarians, Telescreens, and Jazz: Reactionary Uchronias in Modern Spain, ca. 1870–1960

This article is a preliminary exploration of a large (some forty texts) and relatively unknown sample of reactionary uchronias—that is, works of fiction that imagine future revolutions in dystopian terms—published in Spain between the 1870s and the 1950s. Building on the work of Marc Angenot and Matthew Beaumont, among others, it argues that these texts not only provide a precious insight into the mentality of a large section of Spanish society in the transition to modernity but also illuminate the formative process of the modern dystopia. Spanish uchronias are interesting for various reasons: their abundance and variety during a very long period, the evidence of cultural transfers both into and—less often—from Spain, and their peculiar features, such as the important role played by religion both in the plot and in the identity of protagonists. More generally, the study shows the remarkable spread of the dystopian form in the Western world since the end of the nineteenth century and the need for further comparative and transnational analyses that integrate the traditions of “semiperipheral countries” into the general—and overwhelmingly Anglo-American—narrative on the history of utopianism.