SEMINAR PROFILE

H03 -
From Repression to Democracy: Post-Franco Spain

This seminar will examine the spectacular political, social and artistic changes that took place as Spain moved from nearly forty years of Fascist dictatorship, union of Church and State, and exclusion from the European Community, to Spain's current status as a vibrant, secular democracy We will examine nonfiction, fiction and film. Giles Tremlett's Ghosts of Spain will allow us to understand the "pact of forgetting" that made the transition to democracy possible. Carmen Martin Gaite's The Back Room--the first novel published after censorship was lifted--will give insight into the new aesthetic that emerged after Franco's death. Documentaries and films by Almodovar and others will show the range of Spanish creativity. In our discussions we will try to understand Spain's current challenges such as immigration, the power of the autonomous regions, and the erosion of traditions that defined the Spanish way of life. Radical changes such as the removal of all Franco statues and Falange symbols from public view, the constitutional amendment that provides for gay marriage, and the separation of Church and State will be studied.

Scholar:

Margery Resnick

Location:

MIT

Dates:

12/11/2008, 12/17/2008, 1/12/2009

H03 -	From Repression to Democracy: Post-Franco Spain

	This seminar will examine the spectacular political, social and artistic changes that took place as Spain moved from nearly forty years of Fascist dictatorship, union of Church and State, and exclusion from the European Community, to Spain's current status as a vibrant, secular democracy We will examine nonfiction, fiction and film. Giles Tremlett's Ghosts of Spain will allow us to understand the "pact of forgetting" that made the transition to democracy possible. Carmen Martin Gaite's The Back Room--the first novel published after censorship was lifted--will give insight into the new aesthetic that emerged after Franco's death. Documentaries and films by Almodovar and others will show the range of Spanish creativity. In our discussions we will try to understand Spain's current challenges such as immigration, the power of the autonomous regions, and the erosion of traditions that defined the Spanish way of life. Radical changes such as the removal of all Franco statues and Falange symbols from public view, the constitutional amendment that provides for gay marriage, and the separation of Church and State will be studied.

		Scholar:	Margery Resnick
		Location:	MIT
		Dates:	12/11/2008, 12/17/2008, 1/12/2009