Unit 4: Arte y Cultura de la Memoria
"Lo que pasa desde hace cuarenta años es que estamos perdiendo la memoria o manipulándola de una manera infame. Y estamos pagando el precio; si un país es una catedral y la gente son las piedras, la historia es la argamasa. Sin argamasa no hay piedras que valgan. Cuando se habla de «recuperación de la memoria histórica» sólo se recuperan los últimos setenta y cinco años. Y yo me refiero a tres mil años. Y ése es un pequeño matiz. Sin ningún complejo: esto es Grecia, más Roma, más la latinidad medieval, más el Renacimiento, más el Barroco, más América con naves españolas en ida y vuelta, más la Ilustración, más la Europa de las ideas, las libertades, la Revolución Francesa y todo eso. Ésto es un resultado de tal cadena. En el momento en el cual se escamotean los eslabones, en el momento en el cual se ocultan los momentos de ese largo proceso, se está eliminando todo aquello que da unidad y que es vertebrador"- Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez (2011).
Lesson 1: La Narrativa de la Memoria
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The reciprocal relationship between literature and memory is indispensable for the members of a community to have and legitimize the learning obtained from their own history. The narrative utilized in literature, transports us and makes us participants of the story settings and thus, be able to feel identified with it. Nevertheless, this happens under the best circumstances. The reality is that under dictatorships, the literature is intentionally monitored and manipulated by the government with the intention of monitoring and controlling the access to information and influences that might put in risk the creation of a new and imposed memory, which was the case of Spain. However, the governments change accordingly to their new objectives for the future. The narrative of Spain suffered several changes since the end of the Civil War. These changes altered the memories from the past and influenced and forced the society to have a new vision of the Country, which also changed as the time pass and a new future for the Country was visualized. The absence of Franco and the news that Spain was heading to achieve democracy, caused a literature "boom" for the recovery of the historical memory, which is still present today. In this lesson, we will learn about the changes of Spain's narrative since 1939 until the present, and how the Country was reflected through literature.
Thinking Ahead Questions
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Lesson 2: A falta de Memoria, Expresión
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As we discussed before, the press plays an important role in establishing a memory and moves people through the manipulation of the information and images that are presented publicly. As it was expected, and just like literature, images from the age of Franco showed a Spain with order and a sense of a war that was worth the sacrifices. Nevertheless, as artists and the press change to represent the unfinished business from the past, the images started to show the uncertainty concerning the future of the collective memory. Now a days, with democracy in place, the artist and the press express themselves openly, representing the past in a pastiche mode, which due to the circumstances, are contributing to the historical memory recovery, but simultaneously, participate in what looks like a never ending debate about the memory.
Thinking Ahead Questions
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