6. The Memory Boom

The sixth episode, “Memory Boom,” discusses how grave exhumations, legislature, and media challenged the historical narratives that were created and sustained by Franco and the democratic transition.

The fifth episode utilizes oral testimony by my mother, Maria Cecilia Ruiz in order to examine what life was like in Spain after Franco died. It discusses the ‘pact of forgetting’ and the Amnesty Law of 1977, which, at the time, were seen as effective methods of ‘moving on’ from the dictatorship and would not create renewed division in Spanish society.

The function of the fourth episode, is to experiment with a host-guest podcast format, where the host leads the conversation and invites questions and commentary from the guest in real time. This format differs from the other episodes, where interviews are recorded and quotes are later woven into the larger narrative. It compares two separate accounts of my grandfather’s experience fleeing violence during the Spanish Civil War. It investigates the flexible nature of memory and its role in th historical record.

The third episode discusses the violence of the Spanish Civil War and includes testimony from my aunt, Rosario Ruiz. It examines Francisco Franco’s authoritarian regime and the methods Franco employed to establish a ‘victors versus vanquished’ narrative about the war in order to legitimize his power.

The second episode, “Valle de los Caídos,” sets up the central questions of the project by framing the monument site and its surrounding controversy as the symbol of the greater debate around Spanish national history narratives.

The “Introduction” episode begins with my personal story, tracing the origins of my interest in the research topic, and stating my purpose for the project. It also investigates the interplay of memory and history and establishes the working definitions of “memory,” “social memory,” “historical memory.” and “history.”