seique, by Susana Sanches Arins

much more than settling family accounts, a commitment to the memory of the victims of the franco dictatorship in Galicia

Abstract

This paper proposes a reading of the book seique, by Susana Sanches Arins, in order to demonstrate her engagement in the arduous task of reconstructing an extremely traumatic family memory, resulting from her great-uncle Manuel's involvement in repressive practices during the Spanish Civil War and throughout the dictatorship of General Franco. Writing really close to orality, Susana conceives a singular narrative, from which the fragmentation, the ambiguity, and the irony, as well as voice and silence appear as a representational resource, as a form of denunciation of an obscure and painful past that still affects the victims and their families. As the reading unfolds, it becomes evident that the writer’s digging up the past and witnessing the pain goes beyond reaching a family closure, it’s a commitment to memory, a way of saving remembrances through writing.