Module Overview

At the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939, nearly half a million Republicans went into exile in France. Faced with the prospect of returning to Spain, where they were no longer welcome, many volunteered for the Resistance or French Foreign Legion in World War II, fighting against the Germans. During the German invasion of France, a number of these Republicans were sent to Stalags—German prisoner-of-war camps—and then deported to Nazi concentration camps. Although there is no consensus on the exact figures, an estimated 10 to 15000 Spaniards were sent to Nazi camps in Germany and Austria, of which more than 5000 were killed. Notwithstanding the boom of interest in historical memory which has influenced Spanish culture, politics and society since the 1990s, the country’s relationship with the Nazi Holocaust has not been afforded adequate attention. The history of Spaniards who suffered and/ or were killed in Nazi camps—specifically Mauthausen— has not been sufficiently acknowledged in Spain in the political or public sphere, nor has it played an adequate role in the broader discussion in Holocaust Studies on an international level. Despite this, there has been a significant increase in the representation of the Spanish concentration camp experience in literature and film since the millennium. This course will focus on the historical and political background to Spain’s relationship with the Holocaust and analyse a representative selection of contemporary texts in a variety of genres, such as: memoirs, fictional novels and stories, documentaries, a film, a play, and a comic. The course will analyse these texts through theoretical perspectives related to life writing, memory, identity, trauma and representation. It will take into account the socio-cultural, historical and literary context of post-Franco Spain, including the country’s ‘memory debates’ and the Law of Historical Memory.

In order to read the Spanish texts, the minimum entry level for this course is B1.2 on the CEFR. The course builds on the critical and analytic skills that students will have developed in Studies Modules in Years 1 and 2. Having previously studied either CULT2013 Intercultural Studies or MED2019 World Cinema may be an advantage as students who have successfully completed those will either have some knowledge of cultural representation and/or of critical approaches to the study of film as a cultural product.