Costuras — Serie El Tiempo Entre

This paper analyzes how the series uses its central metaphor—sewing—to construct a narrative of national and personal reconstruction. In a Spanish context still grappling with the legacy of the Civil War (1936-1939) and the subsequent 40-year dictatorship, El tiempo entre costuras offers a version of history where individual cunning and sentiment can triumph over totalitarian ideologies. However, this paper questions the ideological implications of this triumph. The act of sewing is Sira’s tool for survival and agency. Following her abandonment, Sira symbolically kills her former, naïve self (Sira) and re-emerges as “Arish,” a sophisticated couturier. The paper draws on Judith Butler’s theory of performativity: Sira’s gender and class identity are not fixed but are meticulously crafted and performed through her clothing.

Stitching a New Identity: Memory, Gender, and National Narrative in El tiempo entre costuras serie el tiempo entre costuras

By setting the story in Tetouan, the series engages with Spain’s forgotten colonial past. The Moroccan characters, such as the loyal assistant Fátima and the merchant Candelaria, are largely benevolent, providing a backdrop for Sira’s self-actualization rather than confronting Spanish colonial violence. This erasure aligns with what historian Sebastian Balfour calls Spain’s “amnesia” regarding its brutal colonial wars in North Africa. The series thus uses the colony as a safe, exoticized stage to rehearse a national drama of survival, free from the most divisive domestic guilt. The central relationship with British intelligence officer Marcus Logan introduces the World War II frame, aligning Franco’s Spain with the Allied cause (a historical simplification, given Franco’s ambiguous neutrality). The romance between Sira and Logan serves as the series’ emotional engine. This paper analyzes how the series uses its