Date of Award

4-2009

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Spanish

First Advisor

Dr. Mercedes Tasende

Second Advisor

Dr. Antonio Isea

Third Advisor

Dr. Robert Felkel

Fourth Advisor

Dr. Antonio Fernández Sancha

Abstract

In the last few years a very controversial concept known as "the recovery of historic memory" has become of utmost importance in certain social and political spheres in Spain. This matter has been addressed by a law approved in July of 2006 during the socialist government under Rodríguez Zapatero. This law recognizes the efforts of those who in 1936 defended the Republican democracy, those who were persecuted by Franco regime and suffered internal and external exile, and those who fought against dictatorship and in defense of the fundamental liberties that Spaniards enjoy today. This complicated process of memory recuperation is necessary to fulfill that missing part of Spanish identity that was captured and disarmed at the end of the Spanish Civil War. The main objective in this dissertation is the diachronic examination of novels that carry out the representation of antifrancoist guerrilla fighters and how their obliterated memory emerges in Spanish society. In order to accomplish this goal the introductory chapter examines various narrative, rhetorical and theoretical discourses, exploring the intimate relationship between History, Literature, and Memory through the lens of Foucault, Hutcheon, Barthes, and White, among others. The second chapter covers the analysis of texts written during or immediately after the war: Cumbres de Extremadura by José Herrera Petere (1938), Este tiempo amargo by Pablo de la Fuente (1944), Juan Caballero by Luisa Canés, La sierra en llamas by Ángel Ruiz Ayúcar (1953), Testamento en la montaña by Manuel Arce (1956) and El ladrido by Oscar Muñiz Martín (1969). The third chapter explores novels written during the democratic transition as well as contemporary fiction: La Pastora: el maqui hermafrodita by Manuel Vila Raso (1978), Luna de lobos (1985) by Julio Llamazares, Maquis (1997) by Alfons Cervera, Siempre quedará París (2005) by Ramón Acín, ¡Hasta siempre camaradas! (2006) by Raúl Tristán and Caballeros de la Muerte (2006) by Alejandro Martínez Gallo. My study reflects how the antifrancoist guerrilla warfare is a clear example of a twofold search for personal and collective identity in Spain and shows how the writers' approach to this subject has drastically changed over the years.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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