Conclusion: Is Spain a Postconflict Culture?

Abstract

Like the “posts” of postmodernism, postmemory, and postcolonialism, the “post” in postconflict does not signify its end, but its troubling continuity in the present. This book, Narrating War in Peace, reveals how the Civil War continues to be inscribed into many of the cultural practices, products, and activities in Spain, and reveals the war to be one of the primary defining elements of identity for Spain’s citizens. At the same time, Narrating War in Peace argues that various Spanish communities are constantly redefining the war and the war’s traces in different terms, reflecting evolving generational, ethical, philosophical, and political concerns and identities. We see the non-static nature of representations of the past through the changes in interpretations (and thus values) discussed in this book over the course of Spanish democracy. Spain is still very much a postconflict culture. Though the conflict is now seen from considerable distance and time, the war continues to encode and be encoded into Spain’s cultural practices and production.