“Do not let my name be erased from history” : education, memory and exile through the lens of childhood and adolescence during the Spanish Civil War

Abstract

This research project analyzes the representation of education, memory, and exile as depicted through the lens of childhood and adolescence in a group of literary and cinematographic works that focus on the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). The primary texts that compose my analysis are the short story “Butterfly’s Tongue” (1995) by Manuel Rivas, the novels The Reader of Jules Verne (2013) by Almudena Grandes and The Thirteen Roses (2003) by Jesus Ferrero, the films Butterfly’s Tongue (1999) by Jose Luis Cuerda and The Thirteen Roses (2007) by Emilio Martinez Lazaro and the documentaries The Children of Morelia (2004) by Juan Pablo Villasenor and The Children of Rusia (2001) by Jaime Camino. A reading of these works in conjunction with Walter Benjamin’s reflections on the concept of history highlights that the child and/or adolescent gaze permits a critical observation of the past. Therefore, this research project argues that childhood and adolescence are represented in the literary and cinematographic works as tools that hold the key to the potential recovery of that which has been lost or omitted in the construction of an official and lineal historical narrative.