Um passado que não cessa? Discurso patrimonial e memória pública comunista no franquismo e na transição espanhola; ¿Un pasado que no cesa? Discurso patrimonial y memoria pública comunista en el franquismo y la transición española; A Never Ending Past? Discourse and Communist Public Memory in Francoism and the Spanish Democratic Transition

In: Revista de Estudios Sociales, Issue 47, p. 12-24

Open Access

Abstract

This investigation analyzes, briefly, the official public memory of the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), during Franco's regime and the beginning of the democratic transition (1939-1977). Initially it establishes a framework which provides context, theoretically and historically, for the communist heritage discourse. Second, it points out some guidelines of its evolution and permanence since the late thirties, questioning how some memory practices influenced the political strategy and public identity of the PCE. In contrast to approaches that highlighted the weight of oblivion, the text highlights the relevance of the memories in the design of the communist discourse. As fundamental conclusion, it argues that official memory about the Second Republic or the Civil War took shape through negotiation between needs of legitimacy, selective recall of key past events, and managing current issues.