The Impact of Contemporary Historical Education on Spanish National Reconciliation

Abstract

It is through the contemporary treatment of recent national trauma that a nation can promote or hinder its healing process, a concept termed reconciliation. This study aims to develop an understanding of the memory dynamics at play in a high-school Spanish History textbook, examining specifically the Franco Regime, a national trauma in Spain's recent past. It is through the deconstruction of the discursive elements used in the teaching of national trauma to the current generation that a broader understanding of the motivations of the present can be constructed. This case study aims to use a textual analysis to answer the following questions: 1. What types of framing/distortion are present in the vehicle of the textbook? 2. How do those elements impact the formation of National Identity? 3. What is the significance of that National Identity in terms of Spain’s past and present? 4. Can collective memory in the textbook be utilized to enact change in the context of the Spanish nation’s reconciliation process?