What light can be thrown on by comparing it to a non-fictional source which covers related material?

 

Introduction:

Timeframe:

Death of Franco= transition to democracy. Nation attempts to eradicate the memory of the Spanish Civil War through the introduction of ‘el pacto del olvido’ and the Amnesty law in 1977 which guaranteed impunity to war crimes committed by both sides during the civil war.  

Context of the chosen sources:

El Silencio de Otros directed by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar (2018). Documentary film - the victims of Franco’s regime attempt to find justice in the courts of Argentina for the crimes that were committed against them in the Spanish Civil War. Chosen specifically for its focus on memory to stop Spain from forgetting in the 21st century. 

Luna de Lobos by Julio Llamazares (1985), focuses on a small group of marquis trying to survive in the Cantabrian mountains during and after the Spanish Civil War. Chosen specifically for its focus on nature and silence as the soldiers were either killed or forced into exile.

Points:

Theme of memory:

·       The different approaches to memory in the postmodern context and during the transition to democracy.

Both sources were a celebration of the forgotten heroes of the resistance to Francoism. Memory of trauma- the horrors of the civil war. Explanation of the role of history and memory- Pacto del olvido and the Amnesty law. More general discussion rather than text specifc. Legacy of the dictatorship in the modern context- negative and there was a movement towards condemning it. Cynicism of Llamares – writing at a time when the transition had not been fully developed and when the readers were tired of literature in regards to the civil war.

The use of fictional and non- fictional sources. History is based on the personal experiences of the individual. Use of personal and collective memory. Approach in interviewing people on such a delicate subject matter and the reason behind their decision to create the documentary   

Angel as the first-person narrator in the novel. Perspective - the ordinary towns people that had to go through these events. Personal testimonies in the documentary are very similar to the events described in the novel. The novel acts as a good accompaniment to make an emotional and compelling appeal in regards to the events that happened during the civil war.

Both political statement.

·       Both sources open up a political dialogue to confront the disappearances and treatment of those in the civil war. Most important aspect in both sources.  

Novel- the republicans need to be invisible to survive. Relentless forces of the civil guard. Description of the hard ships of their living conditions and the problems they faced. Example- when they were staying in the mines and the civil guard when to explore them and used other prisoners as a shield instead of going in themselves.  

Documentary- The lawsuits filed in court in Argentina to find justice for the atrocities that were committed against the victims of the civil war. Opening up a conversation with the past in the present context.

Direct confrontation of the violence in both sources of the atrocities that people encountered.  

·       Landscape as memory.

Part 1:

Documentary film- importance placed on small towns. Places where the most action and the most deaths happened. The opening scene focused on nature/ Spanish countryside. Maria Martin describing the abduction and murder of her mother at a road side which was a mass grave. It is disjointed image as one is not expecting there to be the final resting place- analysis. It matters where the bones of people lie. Sense of belonging. Llamazares- His home was flooded under a reservoir and so he felt that his roots had been displaced. Connection of landscape and sense of belonging that helps root memory.

Specific textual reference- Juan was killed when he went into the village for supplies. No one was really sure where he was buried. Spain was full of mass graves. The 21st century movement to open these graves to identify the bodies and give their bodies back to their families. The significance of the government in allowing this.

 Part 2:

Ghostly figure of the republican soldiers on the fringes of society. In Luna de Lobos they become part of the land as they have been forced to survive in it. Close language analysis of the text- comparing them to wolves in the way that they are hunted. The harsh conditions they had to survive. Compare to the peaceful depiction of the landscape in the documentary which takes on a nostalgic and haunting aura in the future.

Compare the Republican soldiers to the ‘Mirador del memoria’- sculptures made by Francisco Cedenilla as shown in the documentary film. Symbol for all the victims who had died in the land. Absence of the republican soldiers from society is felt through the statues- they are condemned to remain in the landscape. Analysis of the use of visual media and literature.

 

Theme of Silence:

·       Silence was imposed on the people. Different to the treatment of memory. It was a way to survive the Francoist regime. Abandonment and disintegration of the soldiers and victims. Loneliness. Explanation of silence.  

After years the civil guard never gave up looking for Angel. He could never return to society and his own family began to become tired of the danger they were in through association. Specific textual reference- Angel is forced to live in a grave like pit beneath his sister’s goat barn. Visual condemnation to silence.

Documentary- those testifying were old. Time was one of the biggest enemies and their death ensures their silence on the matter. Reference to Llamares attitude towards his old fallen heroes during the Republic who had always begun to die at the time of his writing.

·       Counter argument to the imposition of silence. Another form of political discussion and protest.

End of novel- ambiguous if Angel died or if he was able to escape to France. By escaping, he would have been able to keep his story alive by recounting it to others. Real life figure was used as a basis for the novel. Sense he wasn’t kept silent forever.  

References to other Latin American dictatorships- Pinochet was convicted of similar such crimes as Franco and he was put on trial and arrested. Wider social and historical comparison. Continued fight for justice that doesn’t end despite the imposition of silence and attempts to eradicate memory.  Generational debt where family members are continuing on the fight for justice- the trauma has been passed down.

Conclusion:

Political discussion- making sure the past is not forgotten by creating realistic and haunting portrays of the hardships they had to suffer through the use of memory and silence.

 

 

 

 

Bibliography:

O’Donoghue, Samuel, ‘Nature as enemy of man in Julio Llamares’s Luna de Lobos’, Forum for Modern Language Studies, 50. 3 (2014) pp. 356-370.

Martin-Marquez, Susan, ‘Vision, Power and Narrative in Luna de lobos: Julio Llamazares', Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, 19.2 (1995), pp. 379-387.

Llamarez, Julio, Luna de Lobos (Spain: Seix Barral, 1985)

El Silencio de Otros, dir Carracedo, Almudena and Bahar, Robert (2018), online recording, CLIE, https://resources.clie.ucl.ac.uk/home/sac/search/Storyville%20-%20Facing%20Franco's%20Crimes:%20The%20Silence%20of%20Others

Jones, Sam, ‘Franco's cruel legacy: the film that wants to stop Spain forgetting’, The Guardian (2018) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/08/francos-cruel-legacy-film-wants-stop-spain-forgetting-silence-others  

López de Abiada, José and Bernasocchi, Augusta, ‘Gramáticas de la memoria. Variaciones en torno a la transición española en cuatro novelas recientes (1985-2000): "Luna de lobos, Beatus ille, Corazón tan blanco y La caída de Madrid"’, Iberoamericana, 4.15 (2004), pp. 123-141.

Groult, Charlotte, ‘The Silence of Others: A conversation with the filmmakers’, Violence: An international journal, 1.1 (2020) pp. 205-218.

Kurtz, Wendy, Mass Graves and Remembering through Ritual: Historical Memory in Contemporary Peninsular Literature, Documentary Film, and Digital Culture (Ba thesis, University of California, 2017)

John B. Margenot III, ‘Imagineria demoniaca en Luna de Lobos y La Lluvia Amarilla’, Hispanic Journal, 22.2 (2001), pp. 495-509.

Kenigsberg,Ben, ‘The Silence of Others’ Review: Franco’s Victims Speak Out’, The New York Times (2019) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/07/movies/the-silence-of-others-review.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Analyse and discuss the subversion of gender AND/OR racial hierarchies in Elena Garro’s short story ‘La culpa es de los Tlaxcaltecas’.

Garro attempts to deconstruct preconceived notions about both women and the native Aztecs in the patriarchal Latin American society of the 1960’s. Their cultural identities as marginalised social groups are explored by juxtaposing the past and the present through the two worlds of the conquest of Mexico in the 16 th Century and contemporary Mexico City (the main site of the conquest). Garro breaks the female silence through the use of narrative discourse by allowing Laura to speak for herself. She is the main protagonist and it is a first-person account about her own experiences. This places her at the centre of the story at a time when it was difficult for women to even publish their own novels in Latin America. Laura was a housewife in contemporary Mexico but the text is not told through her husband’s view point. Men were traditionally in charge of the household and by extension their wives. He would have been able to limit her speech but in this story, Laura is in full contr...
Read more

Discuss the representation of social and political conflict in Esteban Echeverría’s ‘El matadero’

General Comment: This was another essay that i struggled with writing and did not receive a very good grade for it. The topic was very abstract and philosophical and apparently I focused too much on trying to base the essay on the story rather than the ideas behind it.  The newly-formed Argentine Confederate in the early 19 th century was characterised by the civil war caused by the ideological clash between the Federals and the Unitarians. One party advocated for a written law, a centralized state, and modern European customs. The other adhered to the caudillo's populist power and rural traditions. [1] ‘El Matadero’ was written during the time that Echevarria was exiled in Montevideo due to the federal dictatorship of Juan Manuel de Rosas whose rule was characterised by political instability and violence. Sarmiento provides the most famous synopsis of Rosas existential dilemma in regards to the social climate: "De eso se trata: de ser o no ser salvaje [2] " and ra...
Read more

Flor Silvestre is able to affirm the traditional values of the melodrama – the family and fatherland – at the same time that it affirms radical social changes’ (Mistron). Analyse and discuss the film in light of this comment, giving concrete examples to illustrate your answer.

Essay received positive feedback.  A traditional melodrama usually affirms domestic values which focuses on the individual, social stability and the maintenance of the status quo. [1] In contrast, a revolutionary melodrama was influenced by the Mexican revolution during 1910-1920. It represented societies desire for change and the creation of a new social and political Mexico. [2] The film Flor Silvestre was released in 1943 during the period of Mexico’s ‘Golden Age’ of cinema when the government gave the industry investment for their films. This helped to consolidate the subgenre of a revolutionary melodrama while at the same time promoting the image of a positive and unified Mexico which extolled the benefits of the revolution [3] .     These two genres enshrine a ‘paradox [4] ’ because they offer contradicting opinions, leading one to question which genre, if anyone, is more applicable to the film. Flor silvestre was set in a small town in Jalisco which is...
Read more