“We Never Spoke About Cinema”: Rosa Chacel and Pere Gimferrer's Correspondence Prior to Her Return to Spain

Abstract

Between 1962 and 1963, Rosa Chacel (1898-1994), exiled in Latin America, experienced a frustrated attempt to return to Spain. In 1971, she had a stay in Spain that was considerably more satisfactory than the previous one. Finally, in 1974, her definitive return materialized and was successful. This work aims to analyze the correspondence between Gimferrer and Chacel, carried out between the failed return and the definitive return, in order to examine how this correspondence helped overcome disappointment and transform the idea of return into a viable and attractive possibility. The analysis of dialogues about cinema, developed in the epistolary exchange between Chacel and Gimferrer, constitutes the central axis of this study. The analysis shows that two national cinematic worlds in their golden decade, those of France and Italy, were conducive to offering the correspondents a space of refuge entirely distinct from their real environment. Cinema's imagery plays a central role in this context prior to the return, acting simultaneously as an escape route toward international horizons and as a starting point for mutual understanding and self-discovery. The pre-return correspondence between Chacel and Gimferrer not only documents a historically significant intellectual exchange but also establishes a bridge between the "two Spains." The letters are an affirmation of art's transformative power as a means of forging connections and resisting alienation, both at a personal and collective level.