Publication: Experiencia de guerra y narrativas personales en la Guerra Civil Española: el diario de Álvaro Silva
Loading...
Official URL
Full text at PDC
Publication Date
2018
Advisors (or tutors)
Editors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Centro de Estudios de la Guerra-RUHM
Citations
Exportar
Abstract
El análisis de fuentes subjetivas –cartas, memorias, diarios- ha introducido el elemento experiencial en el estudio de los conflictos bélicos. Ésta no es una novedad historiográfica y sus aportaciones ya han marcado muy positivamente importantes trabajos, constituyendo una pieza esencial de la nueva historia militar. La Guerra Civil Española no ha sido una excepción en este sentido y son numerosos los estudios que incorporan la visión del yo a otras fuentes tradicionales. Sin embargo, es cierto que este enfoque ha primado en ciertos trabajos, por ejemplo, aquellos que abordan la represión, más que en aquellos que afrontan el estudio de los campos de batalla. El recurrente problema de la escasez de fuentes constituye un obstáculo importante para incorporar esta perspectiva. El diario de Álvaro Silva Bazán resulta una fuente de gran interés desde este punto de vista. Hijo de un conocido noble español, tenía veinte años al empezar el conflicto. Durante toda la guerra hasta su muerte en junio de 1938, llevó un diario personal con anotaciones muy frecuentes. En ellas se plantean temas de cierta calado y otros -muchos- relacionados con la vida cotidiana de un voluntario del bando sublevado. Un análisis profundo permite abordar una serie de temáticas de gran interés: la guerra entendida como un conflicto entre amigos, la guerra como enfrentamiento de clase en el propio bando y la guerra en su dimensión marítima. Además, la fuente utilizada no resulta un obstáculo en su subjetividad, sino más bien un valor añadido para afrontar temas conocidos desde otra perspectiva. Así, el papel ambivalente de los nobles sin rey, la visión de la contienda desde la juventud, la cotidianeidad del barco de guerra, la constante experiencia de la muerte de conocidos o la visión del enemigo, son algunos aspectos contemplados por el autor que aumentan el valor de la fuente y dejan claro la relevancia de su estudio.
The study of letters, memoirs, diaries –subjective works- has drawn the relevance of an experiental point of view in war studies. This isn’t an historiographical novelty and its contributions have already defined, in a very positive way, important historical works, constituting an essential element of the mew military history. The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) has not been an exception in this sense, and there are several studies which are including the vision of the individual among other traditional sources. Nonetheless, it is also true that this approach has been central in some works, for example, those addressing repression, more than in those addressing the study of battlefields. The common problem of the lack of sources represents an important obstacle for developing this perspective. Álvaro Silva’s personal diary is a really interesting source form this point of view. He was a renowned noblemen’s son, being 20 when the conflict started. Since the beginning of the war until his death in June 1938, he wrote a personal diary with frequent notes. There he addresses certain important topics while many other related with the day-to-day life of a volunteer in the rebel army. A deep analysis allows us to tackle some interesting topics: war understood as a conflict fought by friends, war as a class conflict in their own side and war in its naval dimension. Moreover, the diary used as main source was not an obstacle in its subjectivity, rather a helpful tool to develop old topics in a different way. Hence, the ambivalent role of noblemen without a king, the vision of the war from youth’s perspective, the everyday life in a warship, the constant experience of the death of acquaintances or the vision of the enemy are some aspects addressed by the author which make the source more valuable and make clear their importance of its study.
The study of letters, memoirs, diaries –subjective works- has drawn the relevance of an experiental point of view in war studies. This isn’t an historiographical novelty and its contributions have already defined, in a very positive way, important historical works, constituting an essential element of the mew military history. The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) has not been an exception in this sense, and there are several studies which are including the vision of the individual among other traditional sources. Nonetheless, it is also true that this approach has been central in some works, for example, those addressing repression, more than in those addressing the study of battlefields. The common problem of the lack of sources represents an important obstacle for developing this perspective. Álvaro Silva’s personal diary is a really interesting source form this point of view. He was a renowned noblemen’s son, being 20 when the conflict started. Since the beginning of the war until his death in June 1938, he wrote a personal diary with frequent notes. There he addresses certain important topics while many other related with the day-to-day life of a volunteer in the rebel army. A deep analysis allows us to tackle some interesting topics: war understood as a conflict fought by friends, war as a class conflict in their own side and war in its naval dimension. Moreover, the diary used as main source was not an obstacle in its subjectivity, rather a helpful tool to develop old topics in a different way. Hence, the ambivalent role of noblemen without a king, the vision of the war from youth’s perspective, the everyday life in a warship, the constant experience of the death of acquaintances or the vision of the enemy are some aspects addressed by the author which make the source more valuable and make clear their importance of its study.