Naturism as an experience through oral history

Abstract

ABSTRACT With this study we intend to explore the impact of naturism on the Valencian anarcho-syndicalist power base in the 1920s and 1930s. The methodology used in this article has been oral history, since we consider this as the most useful to access the ways of understanding reality, as represented by historical actors. In fact, we have analysed unpublished oral sources to examine the processes of reappropriation of spaces and their uses developed by libertarian militants. Through the collective practices associated with naturism, the libertarian militant structured new contentious discourses that influenced the return to nature as an essential phase of the revolution. These experiences would engender the basis upon which to construct an anarcho-naturist identity, along with a whole set of new meanings and representative universe, which varied according to the experiences of each militant. In short, with this work we interrogate the different representations and subjective experiences of the libertarian militancy around naturism and its practices, which will thus improve the understanding of the weight of naturist collective practices in the imaginary, and in the process of constructing the identity of libertarian militant.