La Americanita: Janet Riesenfeld’s Nomadic Crossings of the Spanish Civil War and Exile

An American dancer, Janet Riesenfeld Alcoriza (1914–1998), crossed into Spain in July of 1936 posing as a translator. Arriving with the hope of marrying her Catalan fiancé and dancing flamenco professionally, she departed as a politicized agent. Her memoir, Dancer in Madrid, sought to raise American support for the Second Republic (1931-–1936). This chapter focuses on Riesenfeld’s experience of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) as a foreign witness to the defense of Madrid. Analysis of her memoir will illuminate her embodiment of feminist scholar Rosi Braidotti’s concept of the “nomadic subject”—an identity that is multiple and layered. This literal or metaphorical traveler empathizes with a diverse set of experiences, allowing the deconstruction of assumed fixed identities and transgressing boundaries. While studies of foreign men in the Spanish Civil War are numerous, this work addresses the lacuna of intellectual American women’s experiences of the Civil War and their understanding of Spain as the battleground to halt fascism. Later, Riesenfeld forged a successful career in Mexican cinema, working among European exiles. Riesenfeld’s shifting genres mirror her movement across literal and symbolic Anglo-Hispanic frontiers, fostering identification with the “other” while forging a path of liberation during a period of war and transition.