Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez and the broken memories of the Spanish exiles of 1939 in Mexico: a seminal concept for the Sociology of the past

Abstract

To mark the occasion of the centenary celebrations for Adolfo Sanchez Vazquez’s birth, a series of tributes were held in Mexico in 2015 to honor both his figure and legacy. This paper aims to analyze the concept of broken memory from the Spanish philosopher through different stages; first, as a memory of witness and victim, and years later as an effect of historical, political and vital discontinuity amid the experience of exile and the lack of memory in successive generations. From this seminal concept, we propose that the absent, forgotten, relegated and excluded memories which are implicit in broken memories have gained presence through various other devices intended to safeguard and use the past: commemoration and post-memory.