Unsettling Nostalgia in Spain and Chile : Longing for Resistance in Literature and Film

"Unsettling Nostalgia in Spain and Chile: Longing for Resistance in Literature and Film reframes nostalgia to analyze how writers and filmmakers have responded to 20th-century dictatorial violence and loss in Spain and Chile. By reaching beyond reductive definitions that limit nostalgia to a conservative desire to defend traditional power hierarchies, Lisa DiGiovanni captures the complexity of a critically conscious type of longing and form of transmission that she terms "unsettling nostalgia." Using literature and film, DiGiovanni illustrates how unsettling nostalgia imbues representations of pre-dictatorial mobilization during the Second Spanish Republic (1931-1939) and the Chilean Popular Unity (1970-1973), as well as depictions of clandestine resistance to the Franco dictatorship (1939-1975) and the Pinochet regime (1973-1989). Positive memories of efforts to upend power hierarchies coexist with retrospective critiques that fissure romanticized views of revolutionary struggle. Unsettling nostalgic works engender deeper understandings of the complexities of political movements and how stories of resistance are meaningful today. By calling attention to the parallels between nostalgic modes that resist multiple injustices based on gender, class, and sexuality, this book traces an evocative continuity between Spain and Chile that goes beyond the initial work that links forms of militaristic authoritarianism. Scholars of Latin American studies, film studies, literary studies, history, women's and gender studies, memory studies, and rhetoric will find this book particularly useful."--Back cover Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Prologue 13 Introduction 23 1 Unsettling Nostalgia in Roberto Brodsky’s Últimos días de la historia 65 2 Memories of Motherhood and Militancy in Chile 89 3 Unsettling the Archive 109 4 Postwar Prison Nostalgia 129 5 Nostalgia and Inner Exile in Almudena Grandes’s Spain 151 6 Detective Pursuits of an Ironic Nostalgic 177 Conclusion 199 References 209 Index 223 About the Author 233 This Book Proposes The Concept Of Unsettling Nostalgia To Understand Memories Of Revolutionary Movements In Spain And Chile. Using Literature And Film, The Author Frames Unsettling Nostalgia As An Emotional Response To Loss And A Mobilizing Tool In The Aftermath Of Violence Under Francisco Franco (1939-1975) And Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990).