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The Spanish Civil War: History, Memory, Representation
An International Interdisciplinary Conference
Date: 9th-10th February, 2008
Venue: Temple of Peace, Cardiff.
"The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." - George Orwell
¡§History¡Kis a Spanish battlefield.¡¨ ¡V Giles Tremlett
Seventy years ago Spain was engulfed in a long and bloody civil war, pre-empting a struggle which would in a few years erupt across Europe and the rest of the world. In the decades since the Spanish conflict has been endlessly discussed and written about, and represented in countless literary, cinematic and visual works of art.
The Spanish government declared 2006 the Year of Historical Memory and submitted a ¡§law of historical memory¡¨ to the country¡¦s Congress for ratification. For the first time the mass killings committed by General Francisco Franco¡¦s fascist regime (1939-1975) are going to be legally exposed as ¡§unjust¡¨, hopefully leading to some form of reparation for the victims and their families. As expected, this law has caused protests from right-wing conservative groups who see the proposed law as an effort at historical revisionism. They believe that victims from both the Nationalists and the Republications should have equal claim to reparation. Ironically, the Law of Historical Memory has been castigated by the political descendents of Franco as ¡¥Orwellian¡¦. So what exactly, if any, should the position of the Spanish Civil War be in the collective memory of the country, the continent and the world?
This international, interdisciplinary conference organised by the Welsh Centre for International Affairs seeks to examine representations of the War, and how they have helped create the image of the War we have today. The conference will analyse the often complex relationships between history and memory, compare the differences between the various ¡¥lies¡¦ and ¡¥truths¡¦ that have been articulated about the war and try to establish what version of history we should remember.
This event will also showcase the Wise and Foolish Dreamers Exhibition [organised by the WCIA] and other cultural events designed to preserve the memory of the Spanish Civil War.
Proposals are invited from any relevant discipline and any theoretical framework.
Possible topics might include:
„« The Cultural History of the War
„« The War in Literature
„« The War on the Screen
„« Women in the War
„« Ideologies of the War
„« The War in Spain Today
„« Fighting Fascism Today
„« Wales and the Spanish Civil War
Prospective speakers are invited to submit proposals of approximately 500 words along with a short CV by the 30th of November, 2007 to the conference organizers at: scwconference08@googlemail.com
Notable publisher of books about the Spanish Civil War, Warren & Pell have provisionally agreed to publish proceedings of the conference.
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