Sacred and Secular Memories and Commemorations about the Victims of the Spanish Civil War in the Contemporary Spanish Society

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24510356
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Area studies
• Research Institution: Aoyama Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: WATANABE Chiaki 青山学院大学, 国際政治経済学部, 教授 (00292459)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: スペイン / 内戦 / 記念碑 / 集合記憶 / 国際旅団 / 世俗 / 宗教 / カトリック教会

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research aims to clarify how the Spanish people commemorate the victims of the Spanish Civil War. We identified the conflicting meanings of the commemorational monuments and the Spanish collective memories about that war. National and regional politics were expected to resolve these conflicts about whether the monuments should be maintained or to be removed, but they still go on, even after the passage of so called "Law on Historical Memories" (2007). We researched the cases of monuments in Madrid and Aragon, with an eye on whether the people there want to sustain them or not, and what they want the local government to do about them. Furthermore, we also studied the case of the "Valle de los Caidos", the national cemetery which was constructed for the general Franco but also buries many Spaniards against their family will. We had interviews with the person concerned with the Special Committee on the future of the "Valle" and analyzed the public opinion on national memories.

Free Research Field

スペイン現代史