Lugares de memoria y lugares de amnesia. La familia como colectivo amnésico en <i>Os libros arden mal</i> de Manuel Rivas

Abstract

The expression “historical memory” is dominating the political, social and cultural discourse in Europe for the last few years. This term is essentially used in Spain where it is linked to the events of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the Dictatorship of Franco (1939-1975). Memories of these historical events never lose their need to be remembered. The work of the Galician author Manuel Rivas contributes to the rediscovery of these historical memories. His novel Os libros arden mal (2006) can be seen as a complex and versatile panorama of those traumatic events. This article focuses with references to the concepts of social and cultural studies about collective memory on representations of the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship in the above-mentioned novel of Manuel Rivas. Identifying the lieux de memoire of one of its protagonist families, it examines the role of the family as a space of transmission and remembrance