The Limitations of the Patronage Power

Based on the censorship history of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, this chapter explores the limitations within the state censorship system of Francoist Spain. Specifically, it addresses these two questions: regarding its regulation of literature produced for children and young readers, what major fallacies can be identified in the regime’s censorship apparatus? In what way and to what extent did such limitations inherent in the sphere of patronage impede the regime’s effective control of texts produced for children? Through examining the limitations of the patronage power of the target culture, this chapter uncovers that, despite the censors’ attempt to defend the model Francoist child image, alternative childhood images, as induced by the foreign texts, could not be completely eradicated.