Memoria prestada. La represión y los movimientos estudiantiles en dos casos de estudio: México (1968) y España (1960-1977)

Abstract

Abstract Throughout this dissertation, I address the nuances of memory in regards to the student movements and the consequent governmental repression in two cases of study: Spain during the late Francoism, and in Mexico, 1968. Here, I propose that novels, films and other visual objects (such as collages and photographs) that have been produced during the 21st century display an aesthetic that I call “memory borrowings.” This is a hybrid aesthetic that incorporates archival materials, but that also, by means of several fictional techniques, re-defines and re-constructs the discourses surrounding these events. It is an aesthetic that destabilizes and/or creates a distance with the notion of trauma. The relevance of these cultural objects and their pursuit of creating a distance with the notion of trauma lies in the intent to incorporate a new generation of young students into the shaping of memory the act of remembering. Since ex-president’ Vicente Fox Quesada’s (2000-2006) re-opening of the case related to Tlatelolco in 2002, along with the recent events in Ayotzinapa, Mexico where 43 students went missing (2014), the memory of the massacre in Tlatelolco has regained interest. On the other hand, research involving the Spanish dictatorship of Francisco Franco is often approached as a monolithic period, even though the dictatorship went through changes and different stages. Therefore, references of the specific participation of students and young leaders in rebelling against the regime can still be explored; while the cultural objects I analyze offer an opportunity to study mnemonic processes from the perspective of those who, as of today, work to on update and keep the conversation of these student movements active. I join to the conversation related to memory and trauma studies seeking to share my findings about the way recent cultural production engages those who seemingly are yet to establish a connection with the memory of the student movements during the Spanish late Francoism and in Mexico, 1968.