Las luminarias de Janucá de Rafael Cansinos Assens

Abstract

This article offers some insights to read Rafael Cansinos Assens’ novel Las luminarias de Janucá. On the one hand is emphasised the documentary character of the story, a filosefardi campaign at the beginning of the twentieth century, on the other hand prominence is given to the spiritual testament or legacy left by the author. In his work Cansinos Assens achieves a so-called ‘double return’ of past through a subtle recalling. We point out the close connection that the author creates between his character’s individual destiny and the country’s collective destiny. The article focuses on describing some core points of the story also through the characters who made that campaign. Concepts such as memory chain, transmission of knowledge and tradition, teacher-disciple relationship are some of the topics of this study that could become remarkable keys of interpretation.

Keywords

• Cadena de la memoria. Campaña filosefardí. Cansinos Assens. Filosefardi campaign. Judaism and modernity. Judaísmo y modernidad. Las luminarias de Janucá. Memory chain. Relación maestro-discípulo. Teacher-disciple relationship. Transmisión de la tradición judía. Transmission of Jewish tradition. | Cansinos Assens