Doctoral Dissertation Research: Historical Memory and the Making of Liberal-Democratic Citizens in Post-Franco Spain

芝加哥大学博士生乔纳·鲁宾在让·科马罗夫博士的指导下，将从事从非民主政府形式向民主政府形式过渡过程中重建国家集体记忆的研究。关于这个新民主国家过去的共同叙事的重要性得到了广泛的认可，但重写国家历史的实际过程经常受到争议的影响。其中一个原因是缺乏对记忆如何以及为什么对创造自由的公民和国家很重要的确切理解。这项研究将通过对历史记忆的制作和传播进行实地调查来填补这一空白。研究将在西班牙进行。在过去的十年里，如何纪念西班牙内战(1936-1939)和随之而来的佛朗哥独裁统治(1939-1975)的受害者的问题一直是西班牙各地的立法者、教育工作者和普通公民关心的问题。鲁宾将利用包括访谈和参与者观察在内的各种定性方法，在挖掘遗址及其附近、学校和致力于创造历史记忆的组织中开展研究。研究人员将评估：(1)在掘尸和其他法医遭遇中形成历史记忆的做法；(2)这种历史记忆在学校课程中被表达并传递给下一代的方式；(3)历史记忆的创造和传递如何重新构建当代西班牙对公民身份的理解。这项研究将有助于研究显著的政治转型过程的社会科学理论。世界各地参与制定过渡时期司法政策和实施民主过渡的人可能会对调查结果感兴趣。资助这项研究还支持研究生的教育。

University of Chicago doctoral student Jonah Rubin, supervised by Dr. Jean Comaroff, will undertake research on reformulations of a nation's collective memory in transitions from non-democratic to democratic forms of government. The importance of forging a common narrative about the newly democratic country's past is widely recognized, but the actual process of rewriting national histories is often marred with controversies. One reason for this is the lack of understanding of precisely how and why memory is important to creating liberal citizens and states. This research will fill this gap through a field investigation of the production and transmission of historical memories.The research will be conducted in Spain. Over the past decade, the issue of how to remember the victims of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and ensuing Franco dictatorship (1939-1975) have concerned legislators, educators, and everyday citizens throughout Spain. Using a wide variety of qualitative methodologies, including interviews and participant observation, Rubin will carry out research at and near exhumation sites, in schools, and with organizations dedicated to creating historical memory. The researcher will assess: (1) the practices by which historical memories are formed in exhumations and other forensic encounters; (2) the ways this historical memory is articulated and transmitted to the next generation in school curricula; and (3) how the creation and transmission of historical memories reconfigure the understandings of citizenship in contemporary Spain. The research will contribute to social science theories of processes of marked political transitions. Findings may be of interest to those involved in transitional justice policy making and the implementation of democratic transitions the world over. Funding this research also supports the education of a graduate student.