EL RELATO NEGATIVO DE LA TRANSICIÓN ESPAÑOLA Y SU PLASMACIÓN LITERARIA: UNA LECTURA SOCIOCRÍTICA DE EL JARDÍN COLGANTE, DE JAVIER CALVO

En el presente artículo, llevaremos a cabo una lectura sociocrítica de la novela El jardín colgante de Javier Calvo. Esta novela aborda en su argumento la Transición española y, en parte a través del recurso al subgénero de la novela de espionaje, presenta desde la ficción una imagen negativa, violenta y descarnada de dicha Transición, entendida como una conspiración de las elites fundada en la violencia y en un pacto de olvido. A través del citado análisis sociocrítico, mostraremos cómo se inscriben ciertos elementos simbólicos de carácter antagónico en el dispositivo semiótico-discursivo de la obra y cómo a la postre estos muestran una visión de la Transición más problemática, ambigua y contradictoria de lo que podría parecer en una lectura superficial del texto, y revelan de forma inconsciente los principales conflictos conceptuales e ideológicos que la Transición aún genera. In this article, we will carry out a socio-critical reading of the novel El jardín colgante, by Javier Calvo. This novel is about the Spanish Transition to democracy, and, partially based on the conventions of the spy novel as a subgenre, it builds a negative image of it. The novel presents the Spanish Transition as a conspiracy of elites based on violence and in a pact of oblivion. Through the aforementioned socio-critical analysis, we will show how certain symbolic antagonistic elements are inscribed in the semiotic-discursive device of the work, and also how they reveal a more problematic, ambiguous and contradictory view of the Spanish Transition than it might appear from a first reading, and also how they unconsciously expose the main conceptual and ideological conflicts that this period of the Spanish History still generates. Abstract: In this article, we will carry out a socio-critical reading of the Javier Calvo’s novel El jardín colgante. This novel is set during the Spanish Transition to democracy, and, partially based on the conventions of the spy novel as a subgenre, it builds a negative image of it. The novel presents the Spanish Transition as a conspiracy of elites based on violence and in a pact of oblivion. Through the aforementioned socio-critical analysis, we will show how certain symbolic antagonistic elements are inscribed in the semiotic-discursive device of the work, and also how they reveal a more problematic, ambiguous and contradictory view of the Spanish Transition than it might appear from a first reading, and also how they unconsciously expose the main conceptual and ideological conflicts that this period of Spanish History still generates.

Carlos Giménez, España, Una, Grande y Libre (1976-1977), and Comics of the Transition

I reexamine the Spanish Transition in terms of the interventions that cartoonists in the 1970s used to lay bare the machinations of the old regime still in power. Specifically, I analyze Carlos Giménez’s España, Una, Grande y Libre series, an exemplary counter-narrative against the dominant discourse produced by post-Franco government officials and economic power brokers. This collection—which denounces state-sanctioned violence and champions popular mobilizations in the name of a more just society—is also a pioneering work that makes visible the victims of the long-silenced crimes of Francoism.

La Ley General de Educación en la memoria: del reconocimiento a la negación

The aim of this paper is to analyze the process of the drawing up of the General Education Act (LGE), created under the Franco regime and implemented a few years before the Spanish transition. In order to do so, we pay special attention to the socio-economic moment in which the law was projected and to the different political tendencies that were emerging in the scenario of dictatorship and that would become more visible in the transition. The paper also examines the individual and collective experiences and strategies of other sectors of the population, showing how they swung from recognition to denial of the LGE. The law’s implementation was the result of a critical diagnosis of the education system that implied a need for decisive change in the situation of education, a change that could be achieved by setting legal conditions for the normalization of universal education in Spain. The starting point was the belief that improving education would lead to the socio-economic development of the country while at the same time resolving the situation of ideological, political and social conflict that persisted under the dictatorship and that would be solved, in part, after 1978.

LA TRANSICIÓN EN DISPUTA: CON UÑAS Y DIENTES (Paulino Viota, 1978)

Resumen: Este trabajo analiza la dimensión ideológica del largometraje Con uñas y dientes, una reflexión sobre la Transición española (1975-1982) desde una perspectiva marxista. Para ello, se considerará el abandono por parte del autor de sus anteriores posiciones estéticas y la asunción de códigos genéricos convencionales, analizando su construcción narrativa y considerando el contexto cinematográfico y político del momento, así como la relación del filme con la labor del Nuevo Frente Crítico, principalmente con la visión del colectivo Marta Hernández sobre los últimos años del franquismo y de la revista Contracampo sobre la Transición.Abstract: This paper studies the ideological dimension of the film Con uñas y dientes, a critical view on the Spanish Transition (1975-1982) from a marxist perspective. For that purpose, the author’s abandonment of his previous aesthetic positions in favor of more conventional generic codes will be considered, analyzing the film’s narrative construction. For this purpose, the cinematographic and political context of the period will be taken on account, as well as the film’s connection with the work of the Nuevo Frente Crítico (New Critical Front), mainly the colective Marta Hernández’s view on the last years of francoism and that of the review Contracampo on Transition.

Mi entrevista con Adolfo Suárez para alumnos de Bachillerato

In 1983, on the occasion of the stay of former President Adolfo Suárez in Santa Cruz de La Palma, I requested an interview to better explain to the high school students the Spanish Transition, which was not yet on the official schedule. This encounter with Suárez is offered here, in its context, through the transcription of his words and in audition format.

A Legacy of Violence: The Lack of Transitional Justice in Post-Franco Spain and its Impact on Victimhood

In order for a country to transform from a society in which rights were severely repressed to a society in which rights are respected and protected, the violations of the past must be properly and adequately addressed. However, instead of using the transition to democracy to confront the country’s history of violence and repression, the Spanish government and society actively stifled the memory of the Civil War and forty-year dictatorship, failing to address the country’s legacy of violence and the victims left in its wake. Despite the Spanish transition being regarded as a remarkable success story, an institutionalized historical amnesia resulted in many oppositional counter-memories as forms of cultural resistance. This paper will demonstrate how repressing memory left the door open for the legacy of political violence to persist in Spain. Prioritizing processes of transitional justice and historical memory is crucial in working toward sustainable peace in Spain and the Basque Region today. This paper will provide an overview of transitional justice and historical memory and an analysis of the impact of Spain’s lack of transitional justice, specifically regarding the politicization of victimhood. It is important to examine the implications of the pacto del olivido (pact of silence) and the 1977 Amnesty Law in rendering Franco’s victims invisible and in sustaining Spain’s legacy of political violence. Furthermore, this paper will explore how the Basque terrorist group, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), carried on Spain’s legacy of political violence for another four decades following the end of the Franco dictatorship. The next section of this paper will analyze how the ‘memory boom’ of the early 2000s led to greater recognition of the victims of Francoism and to the passing of the 2007 Historical Memory Law. This analysis will show how the politicization of victimhood resulted in an inequity between the measures taken to recognize and protect different victims’ groups, subsequently providing more protection for victims of ETA violence. Overall, this paper contends that, in the case of Spain, a lack of transitional justice has perpetuated a long legacy of violence and a silencing of the victims of Francoism that remain unresolved.

On the Threshold to Democracy: Graffiti and the Spanish Transition

This study explores the relationship between graffiti and liminality during the Spanish Transition to democracy. Following Franco’s death in 1975, Spain experiences the in-betweenness associated with transitional phases, and such slippage creates a site of hybridity or third space enacted in part through the plethora of pintadas found in its towns and cities. Graffiti contribute to the creation of a middle-passage in which the nature of the Spanish nation unfolds. In this site of flux, the Francoist vision of a unified Spain is both challenged and defended through a multifaceted, conflictual and collective process of identification. Such markings - photographed from 1979 to 1980 - reflect both the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Transition and the potential of a nation in a process of change. In my study I draw mainly from Homi Bhabha’s thoughts on Third Space, and on scholarship on graffiti. I show that while the message and tone vary widely between opposing ideologies, their politically charged graffiti enact the instertices where national identity is negotiated.

Uso de la evidencia y significatividad histórica en la enseñanza de la Transición española mediante un entorno digital de aprendizaje

INTRODUCCIÓN. Este estudio, enmarcado en el Proyecto HISREDUC, recoge los resultados obtenidos tras una intervención en la asignatura Geografía e Historia de cuarto curso de la ESO. MÉTODO. Se establece el objetivo de facilitar el desarrollo de dos dimensiones del pensamiento histórico (el uso de la evidencia y la percepción de la significatividad), mediante la aplicación de un entorno digital de aprendizaje durante siete sesiones, con un total de 53 estudiantes, y utilizando la enseñanza de la Transición española como marco curricular de trabajo. Mediante el uso de un análisis cualitativo, se examina el grado de progresión mostrado en torno a ambas dimensiones, comparando el nivel de competencia presente antes y después de la aplicación del entorno digital. RESULTADOS. Los resultados permiten identificar patrones comunes ligados con las habilidades de los estudiantes, mostrando una evolución positiva en relación con el uso de la evidencia y con la comprensión de la significatividad histórica. DISCUSIÓN. se concluye que la intervención didáctica utilizada ha reforzado y ayudado a hacer explícitas capacidades latentes, facilitando su aplicación en el análisis del pasado. INTRODUCTION. This study, which is framed within the HISREDUC Project, presents the results obtained following an intervention with 15-year-old secondary education History students. METHOD. The aim of this paper is the development of two main concepts related to historical thinking (use of evidence and historical significance) through the use of a digital learning environment over seven sessions. 53 students participated and the curricular framework used was the Spanish transition to democracy. The level of progression related to both concepts is examined through a qualitative method which compared the perceived proficiency level before and after the use of the digital learning environment. RESULTS. The results allow to identify common patterns related to students’ abilities, showing a positive progression related to the use of evidence and historical significance. DISCUSSION. It can be concluded that this intervention reinforced and helped made explicit latent capabilities, allowing their use in the analysis of the past.