HISTORICAL MEMORY IN SPAIN. FROM THE MEMORIALIST MOVEMENT TO HISTORICAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Cazarabet talks with Pablo García Colmenares, author of "Historical Memory in Spain. From the Memorialist Movement to Historical Consciousness" (University of Valladolid): http://www.cazarabet.com/conversacon/fichas/fichas1/pablogarciacolmenares.htm The recovery of the historical memory of the Civil War and its repression in Spain has been the result of a collective effort across the country. Of course, there have been notable differences in institutional support, as discussed in the text. And it has been done as a duty of memory, to know and, through that knowledge, to ensure that it never happens again. A collective investigation has ranged from the recovery of our most traumatic past, exhuming mass graves, to our recent democratic memory, which allows us to understand and explain today's Spain. This joint effort has produced commendable results that are worth highlighting: from the compilation of the names of innocent victims to the creation of numerous memorials of recognition and homage. It has also been a task of proposals and actions to heal wounds and overcome generational traumas. But the memorial movement has also promoted the regulatory development of memory policies in many autonomous communities of this country, which have initiated the next phases of action, such as: the incorporation of democratic historical memory into textbooks and the development of educational itineraries with "Places of Memory," which include everything from the location of mass graves to memorials and totems of memory, as well as buildings of special significance in the context of traumatic violence in that territory. This process is being coordinated by Democratic Memory Centers and Institutes in some autonomous communities through the use of social media and new technologies. Its objective is not only to disseminate knowledge but also to use it to reconcile us with our past. This is currently the field of work that most interests the memorial movement and social researchers, because its contribution is of greatest interest for the future, shaping the historical consciousness of who we are and what we want to be.