Authorship: Carmela Artime Omil
Programme: Information and Knowledge Society
Lenguage: English
Supervisor: Dr Teresa Iribarren Donadeu
Departament / Institut: Doctoral School
Subjects: Social Sciences
Key words: historical memory, comics, historieta, graphic novel, historical representation, Spanish Civil War, autobiographical comics
Area of knowledge: Information and Knowledge Society
Abstract
Comic books, traditionally perceived as a medium for children that would not engage in complex dialogues, contribute to the cultural memory debate that emerged in Spain around the year 2000. Through a close reading analysis of four graphic novels that explore the lives of those who experienced the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, this thesis connects with the transnational debate on memory and the studies of comics, and contributes to understanding the part played by the comic medium in that cultural debate. The research focuses on three specific aspects that the analysis revealed as decisive for insight into the representation of memory in Spanish comic books: the use of narration of the self and how that affects the narrative itself, the impact that the transmission and the generational aspect had on that narrative, and the entanglement of truth and fiction presented in those stories. The close reading shows that the narrative on the war that these comics offer is built on a sturdy foundation that intertwines feelings, historical facts and personal information on the protagonists. Through a political and socially committed narrative, these comics seek and achieve legitimation of their account of memory.