The resilient memory of the Spanish Civil War and Francoism

Abstract

This article examines the resilient strategies of those people who were politically or ideologically repressed during Francoism. In total, 57 individuals were interviewed in depth in order to establish the strategies that they adopted to overcome adverse situations. The memories of the interviewees not only bring to light the diversity of resources used to face repression, but they also show how their individual strategies of resilience were linked to a collective resilience framework involving a large segment of the population who are still alive or who have handed on their experiences to their descendants. Past memories are consequently connected in the present with the (re)creation of a common identity and the restoration of dignity to the victims, who were classified as criminals in historical and legal archives and also suffered a process of social stigmatization. However, the aim of this article is not to resurrect the conflict in a society that has been ideologically divided for decades nor to transform history, but to cover the existing gaps in the official history. By doing this, it should be possible to strengthen the social and democratic values in a society that needs to build a future that is free from the ideological confrontations of the past.

Community on conflict: social representations of the recent past among members of historical memory associations of Biscay (La comunidad en conflicto: representaciones sociales del pasado reciente en miembros de asociaciones de memoria histórica de Vizcaya)

“…Therefore, social research on this group is also scientifically relevant. The scientific literature has traditionally addressed the issue by analysing those historical memory groups with significant national relevance (e.g., Baer & Sznaider, 2015; Díaz Gandasegui et al, 2018; Yusta, 2008), leaving aside these small neighbourhood associations.…”

“…Por lo tanto, la investigación social sobre este colectivo también consta de una relevancia científica. Si se observa la literatura científica que aborda el pasado reciente de España podemos observar como los estudios realizados se centran en colectivos con gran relevancia nacional (e.g., Baer & Sznaider, 2015; Díaz Gandasegui et al, 2018; Yusta, 2008), dejando de lado a estas pequeñas asociaciones vecinales.…”

Remembering according to national identity and ideology: influences of ideological positioning and national identities on the collective memory of the Civil War and dictatorship in Spain among youths / La memoria en función de la identidad nacional y la ideología: influencias del posicionamiento ideológico y de la identidad nacional en la memoria colectiva de la Guerra Civil y la dictadura en España entre los jóvenes

“…También es necesario señalar la represión y el control, tanto lingüístico como ideológico, a los que el régimen sometió a la población. Los vencidos sufrieron sanciones y privación de las necesidades básicas y sociales (Díaz Gandasegui et al, 2018). El uso de una lengua distinta del español (e.g., catalán, gallego o vasco) en público también fue motivo de castigo y represión (Colmeiro, 2011).…”

“…Also noteworthy is the repression and control — both linguistic and ideological — to which the regime subjected the population. Punishments and deprivation of basic and social needs were imposed on the defeated (Díaz Gandasegui et al, 2018). Using a language other than Spanish (e.g., Catalan, Galician or Basque) in public life was also punished and repressed (Colmeiro, 2011).…”

Problematising Symbolic Reparation: ‘Complex Political Victims’, ‘Dead Body Politics’ and the Right to Remember

“…This commemorative approach has left a troublesome legacy elsewhere. Perhaps the most notable example is Francoist Spain where the hyper-visibility of the Nationalist war dead through public commemoration and memorialisation was matched with the concerted suppression of the collective memory of the Republican war dead and other victims of Francoism (Diaz Gandasegui et al, 2018; Raychaudhuri, 2013). As a result, a victimological imbalance entrenched itself within public remembrance for generations and is only being redressed now following the Law of Historical Memory 2007 (Humphrey, 2014).…”