The Representation of Traumatic Memory in Spanish Comics

Abstract

The graphic representation of traumatic memory of war disasters constitutes a broad tradition that can be traced back to Francisco Goya. Comics, with the resources provided by their textual-visual narrative, have been part of that tradition especially since the 1950s. However, representing traumatic memory of war disasters is troublesome, in regard to the artists’ strategies and public reception – as shown by the conflicts between memory, history and myth posed in these works. This article develops a comparative study of traumatic memories in Spanish comics and presents an analysis of the modes of representation in works such as Carlos Giménez’s Paracuellos, Francisco Gallardo Sarmiento and Miguel Gallardo’s Un largo silencio, Antonio Altarriba and Kim’s El arte de volar and Paco Roca’s Los surcos del azar.

Comics and the Colombian Peace Process: Neoliberal Discourse and the Risk of Revictimization of Displaced Peasants

“…Chute (2011, p. 109) argues that comics can express traumatic life stories since “it makes literal the presence of the past by disrupting spatial and temporal conventions to overlay or palimpsest past and present.” Many comics that narrate traumatic memories deal with political conflicts (Pérez García, 2018; Whitlock, 2006). This is especially true for Latin America where dictatorships, armed conflicts, and their legacy of trauma became the topic of various comics (Catalá Carrasco et al, 2017).…”