Las peregrinaciones de Teresa (1950) de María Teresa León o la lejana ilusión de España

This article analyses Las peregrinaciones de Teresa, a narrative anthology published by María Teresa León in 1950. Based on some reflections on the literature of exile and after a necessary critical commentary on the title and the prologue, it explores the characterisation of the protagonists of the four selected stories, who share with the author the experience of the Spanish Civil War and the reminiscences of childhood in Madrid. León reworks her memory through fiction, from a feminine point of view, denouncing the patriarchal mould of the Spanish society of the time. Finally, León's narrative parable is reconstructed in order to demonstrate that Las peregrinaciones de Teresa is a transitional work between her earlier revolutionary prose and the hermetic symbolism, that would characterise her last book of short stories Fábulas del tiempo amargo.