Context, Pan's Labyrinth Flashcards
What are the four areas of context in Pan’s Labyrinth?
Social - the role of women
Cultural - Artistic influences
Political - Civil War, Pact of Forgetting and Law of Historical Memory
Institutional - The difficulties of funding
Pan’s Labyrinth takes place _ years after the Spanish Civil War
5 years
What Spanish culture wars in Spain lead to civil war?
-Urban culture and cosmopolitan lifestyle vs rural tradition
-Secular vs religions
-Authoritarianism vs liberal politicians
-Traditional gender roles vs ‘the new woman’
-Youth vs age
How did the church impact the civil war?
In the north, the church provided spiritual solace and practical support in the form of rural credit banks.
In the south, there were many big estates worked on by peasants which was supported by landowners.
Many were concerned about the republic interfering with Catholicism, which began to support the fascist movement.
How did the military influence the civil war?
The loss of the Empire led to a rigid and intolerant army, eager to fight.
-Officer corps no longer had external issues so it became a political, internal force which suggest civilian politicians were at fault for the loss of the empire.
-Franco took control of the military academy to spread ideas of a ‘rebirth’.
-Deep opposition of army reform which wanted army under constitutional control.
Impact of the war on people
-450,000 people were exiled to Mexico, Argentina, France and the USSR.
-35,000 children evacuated
-500,000 people were killed in the war
-Many were murdered under Franco’s reign
What is the Pact of Forgetting?
After the death of Franco in 1975, Spain wanted to move forward towards democracy however there were no prosecutions or accountability for fascists. The past was ignored and forgotten as a political weapon. It was called ‘la desmemoria’.
What was the Law of Historical Memory?
An official law passed in 2007 (one year after Pan), which aimed to look back on Spain’s fascist past, remember and study it in order to prevent it from occurring again. Del Toro’s film was part of the Zeitgeist for the law.
What is a Zeitgeist?
The defining mood of a particular period of history shown by beliefs of the time.
Who is Luis Bunuel?
One of the 15% of exiles that went to Mexico. Luis was a Spanish surrealist director who inspired Del Toro.
What are the Politics of Hunger (anos de hambre)?
Franco introduced ‘autarky’ which led to a lack of food in Spain. Rations were given to civilians as a strategy of social control. People would support the fascist government for giving them food. ‘The manipulation of basic needs was part of Francoist society’.
What is autarky?
Economic independence. The banning of foreign trade.
How was Spain’s post-dictatorial identity described by writer Bejarano?
a constant reconstruction process that attempts to ‘exorcise the ghosts that haunt the collective memory of Spain’
Why is it important to revisit the past?
‘The comeback of the past as spectre would be, thus, a symptom of a collective incapacity to correctly comprehend it’ -Jose Colmeiro
In what way was Pan’s Labyrinth a co-production?
Spanish 78% and Mexican 22%
