Prison and Memory in Francoist Spain: Isaac Rosa’s El vano ayer

Abstract

In this paper I analyze the way in which Franco’s prison is presented in Isaac Rosa’s El vano ayer (2004), both as a space of political repression and as a stage for the History of Spain, carried out by police officers and detainees. Using concepts such as “place of memory”, “collective memory”, “memory in literature” and “literature as a means of cultural memory”, I will see how the convergence and divergence of “testimonies” of different characters compose a polyphonic novel that aims to highlight the brutality of the tortures practiced by the regime and contribute to the construction of an alternative historical memory.