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Unearthing Franco's Legacy Summary

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While the book Unearthing Franco’s Legacy had a diverse field of intellectuals, Embodying Memory in Contemporary Spain dealt with Spanish memory and the subjectivity behind it. Alison Ribeiro de Menezes, a Hispanic studies and cultural memory expert in Spain and Portugal, purpose for this book was to “…explore ways in which Spain’s memory debates crystallize important elements of this new focus on memory as quite literally embodied rather than emplaced, and on the ways in which memory is today approached through imaginative and emotional investments in the past rather than cognitive rationalizations.” In Spain, memory and emotions was the key to the understanding of the public discourse. It would be impossible to have memory and rational objective analysis without the constant memorializing of one side over the other. Furthermore, she argued that, “The field of cultural memory teaches us that the past will …always be contested—frequently in a politicized manner—from the perspective of the present.” De Menezes understood that cultural memory, analyzed in the present, can be easily politicized …show more content…

The Spanish case study showcased the political arena of revisiting the memory of the dead that disappeared. The amnesty and transition to democracy changed the understanding of memory but anniversaries brought the debate back into the public. Furthermore, the families of the victims wonder what happened to their loved ones during the war, sought justice against Nationalist perpetrators. With the help of powerful people such as Supreme Court Justice Garzón and the historians that researched new interpretations of the war, the debates increased awareness of the tragedy of the war. Thus, the Spanish Civil War analyzed as a tragedy showcased the challenges of writing the subject with historical memory along with

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