Los espacios de memoria en Cataluña: un análisis desde la perspectiva de género

Abstract

In the last two decades, the identification, documentation, enhancement and protection of places of memory has intensified in Catalonia (Spain), with a semiotics and discourse that demands a gender perspective, in line with the projects carried out in museum spaces. With the aim of analysing the role of women and their representation in memorial spaces in Catalonia, we focus on the Xarxa d'Espais de Memòria, a project managed by the Catalan Memorial Democràtic. Three factors were decisive in choosing this project as a case study: 1) the project’s maturity, which after 15 years presents a solid trajectory; 2) the territorial scope, since the places of memory are present in the entire Catalan territory; and 3) the programme’s public nature. The article is based on a quantitative and qualitative study of 185 places of memory, where we examine how women are represented. Although, a priori, the late development and legislative implementation of memory policies might raise expectations of a certain awareness of the gender perspective, the results obtained do not support this hypothesis. In the heritagisation of memory, as in other fields, women have been systematically under-represented. The rare exceptions to this trend – the result of recent initiatives – are presented in this article as a possible change of trend in memory-related activities regarding women representation.

Keywords

• cultural heritage – gender and identity
• cultural heritage – interpretation
• cultural heritage – representation aspects
• Xarxa d’Espais de Memòria – Memorial Democràtic
• politics of memory