Event Title
Panel II: “Afterlife and Bare Life at the Valley of the Fallen”
Abstract
One of the main points of contention in Spain’s current debates about historical memory is the Valley of the Fallen, a giant mausoleum, monastery, and underground basilica commissioned by the Franco regime in honor of the “fallen” soldiers of the country’s civil war. A shrine to the Nationalist “heroes” constructed in part by political prisoners of the losing side, this icon of the regime’s own politics of memory could now face a number of different fates. Rather than engage this debate on its own terms, this paper takes the Valley of the Fallen as a point of departure for a reassessment of the Francoist system of rule itself. After an overview of the Valley of the Fallen’s architectural features, symbolism, and construction process, my focus turns toward a theoretical reflection on what I call “colossal commemoration” as it relates to the analytics of government and specifically to biopolitics. This analysis of the Valley of the Fallen pushes us to reframe current debates not only about historical memory but also about the broader role of the memorialization and political victimhood in the country’s current democratic government.
Presenter Bio(s)
Justin Crumbaugh, (co-organizer) Associate Professor of Spanish at Mount Holyoke College, specializes in Spanish film, news media, and political discourse. He has published extensively on the Franco dictatorship, including articles on pro-regime cinema and a book, Destination Dictatorship: The Spectacle of Spain’s Tourist Boom and the Reinvention of Difference (SUNY Press, 2009), on the media frenzy surrounding tourism during the 1960s. He is currently preparing a book manuscript that draws on memory studies and political philosophy to examine the public enshrinement of victimhood and martyrdom.
Location
Mount Holyoke College, Mary Woolley Hall, New York Room
Start Date
14-10-2011 2:45 PM
End Date
14-10-2011 3:30 PM
Panel II: “Afterlife and Bare Life at the Valley of the Fallen”
Mount Holyoke College, Mary Woolley Hall, New York Room
One of the main points of contention in Spain’s current debates about historical memory is the Valley of the Fallen, a giant mausoleum, monastery, and underground basilica commissioned by the Franco regime in honor of the “fallen” soldiers of the country’s civil war. A shrine to the Nationalist “heroes” constructed in part by political prisoners of the losing side, this icon of the regime’s own politics of memory could now face a number of different fates. Rather than engage this debate on its own terms, this paper takes the Valley of the Fallen as a point of departure for a reassessment of the Francoist system of rule itself. After an overview of the Valley of the Fallen’s architectural features, symbolism, and construction process, my focus turns toward a theoretical reflection on what I call “colossal commemoration” as it relates to the analytics of government and specifically to biopolitics. This analysis of the Valley of the Fallen pushes us to reframe current debates not only about historical memory but also about the broader role of the memorialization and political victimhood in the country’s current democratic government.