Del clero para el pueblo. La Literatura Edificante de Postguerra: un instrumento de divulgación y socialización religiosa

Abstract

The article deals with the analysis of what we have previously called «Literatura Edificante de Postguerra» (Postwar Ennobling Literature). It is a type of specific literal)' production, part of a broader are of religious character, characterized by its objective of spreading the official speech of the church hierarchy of that time. Precisely, the historical reference induded in the name of this literature, is justified by the fact that it Hes within the context of a socializing offensive of the traditional catholicism which will take place, during the spanish potswar period in a tangible and lasting form. Nevertheless, we are dealing with a fact which is not exclusively spanish as it can be seen in the works of the great number of authors from other western catholic countries. The authors, by the way, will get little consideration from a literature defined as an instrument in the service of the trc1nsmission of a message. In its tum, the message will focus its attention on a procreation orientated sexuality, and therefore it is not surprising, that it is a literature part.icularly addressed to women and youth who are going to be its main readers or, hetter said, buyers. The special features of the L.E.P. will finally be a strong symbol of identification and communication.