History as Grievance

Published by

Clarissa

January 10, 2014

From a messianic history laden with promises of a better future, we have moved to a view of history as grievance; concurrently, the focus is on the victims of history, and no longer on the heroic figure of the warrior.

Ángel Loureiro, “Pathetic Grievances.”

Loureiro is a famous Hispanist but please don’t think I was alluding to him in the previous post. I just wanted to share this great quote and ask what you think about it. Loureiro is a great guy and, in my experience, very respectful towards non-Hispanic Hispanists.

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9 responses to “History as Grievance”

musteryou

January 10, 2014

I’ve just made a video on an extremely similar topic, but I haven’t uploaded it yet.

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musteryou

January 10, 2014

Nietzsche criticises the anarchist of his time, Duhring, on this point.

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Z

January 10, 2014

Is he implying that these are the two options? I would disagree. I also think he is caricaturing both views a bit.

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Z

January 10, 2014

And: is he saying that is what historiography is doing in Spain now, or worldwide, or what? Whose work does he mean?

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1. Clarissa
  
  January 10, 2014
  
  THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS.
  
  Loureiro is talking about the Spanish Civil War. He is analyzing documentaries about the war that were filmed in the 1970s-80s and 1990s-2000s. So check this out: he says that often the same people are interviewed for these films. But in the 1970s documentaries, they talk about the political dimensions of the war: who fought, which parties they represented, what ideas they defended, etc. And in recent documentaries, the same people talk about the emotional aspects of the war, how they were victimized, etc.
  
  Loureiro is bothered by the intensely emotional reactions to the civil war today. His explanation of the rage over the Civil War that is obviously very much there today is psychoanalytical. I don’t do psychoanalytical analysis of cultural products, so this is not my approach. My answer – and this is what I will be doing in my new book – is that all this anger about the war isn’t really about the war. people are angry about what is happening in Spain today, politically and economically.
  
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  1. Z
    
    January 10, 2014
    
    That’s very interesting indeed.
    
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musteryou

January 10, 2014

Here I am to save the day.

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valter07

January 11, 2014

Do you see parallels between the phenomenon you described and the rise of women-are-victims-lacking-any-agency variety of feminism?

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1. Clarissa
  
  January 11, 2014
  
  Hah. I haven’t thought about it but now that you said it, I’m thinking there is definitely something to it.
  
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