Individual and collective memory are at the core of the emergence of graphic novels within the comics industry. Their capacity to show and tell, to make ethereal and subjective memories seen with the necessary sophistication to tackle their sociopolitical context, transformed this medium into a prominent form of expression, especially for traumatic memory. In this presentation, I discuss how the convergence of drawing and text in comics has allowed for a fruitful exploration of political repression and identity politics in Spain. The Civil War (1936-1939) and General Francisco Franco's dictatorship (1939-75) might be considered the national trauma of Spain, deeply linked to the country's identity. The "Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory" recent initiativeto unbury the memories, experiences and bodies of those who died as part of the regime's repression has underpinned the development of collective memory. The recovery of the voices of Francoism's victims has been central to Spain's transitional justice but it reveals itself limited when works by and about women are the exception. How can the recovery of the past be committed to a diverse and inclusive future? And how does the comics industry spearheads this change? In the long path of invisibility that women comic artists still endure today – only contested by projects like the Presentes exhibition – how does the Spanish national trauma legitimize women's inscription in the country's identity? Through a comparative analysis of Antonio Altarriba's El ala rota (Madrid: Norma Editorial, 2016) and Ana Penyas' Estamos todas bien (Madrid: Salamandra Graphic, 2018) I explore the poetics and politics of trauma, postmemory, identity and gender representation in Spanish comics production. Women's memories have challenged previous accounts of historical memory on comics. While the vast majority of graphic narrative has revolved around men and their fight in the Spanish Civil War, these comics retrieve the experiences of women that spent their lives taking care of others, which ultimately questions what struggles shape memory and nationhood. The feminist protests and activism of the past two decades have made women's concerns and roles visible, and more importantly, valued. In particular, I consider that Ana Penyas's Estamos todas bien exemplifies the shift from sites of memory to dynamics of memory, from the arena of war to the arena of the city, as a central step to acknowledging the multiplicity and diverse nature of historical memory.
