Spanish essentialism and the far right: An interview with Ana Luengo

Professor Ana Luengo is a leading voice in the study of memory, violence and cultural representation in Spain and Latin America. Her latest book, Arqueología del esencialismo español: Leyes, geneologías y herencias (‘Archaeology of Spanish Essentialism: Laws, Genealogies and Inheritance’) (Editorial Comares, 2023), explores the roots and contemporary implications of Spanish essentialism – a timely topic given the rise of far-right movements in Spain and beyond. With an academic journey that spans from Germany, where she earned her doctorate at the University of Hamburg, to her current role at San Francisco State University, Professor Luengo has contributed significantly to the fields of memory studies, literature, film and media. Her earlier works, including La encrucijada de la memoria (‘The Crossroads of Memory’) (2004, 2nd edition 2012) and ‘Perpetradores y memoria democrática en España’ (‘Perpetrators and democratic memory in Spain’) (edited with Katherine O. Stafford, 2017), have established her as an authority on how Spain’s history, particularly the Civil War and Francoism, continues to shape cultural narratives. In this interview, Luengo discusses the major themes of Arqueología del esencialismo español and analyses how the far right in Spain draws from historical narratives and myths of national identity. Her incisive analysis of the ways in which the past is reconstructed, inherited and politicized offers critical insights into the ideological foundations of these movements, as well as the broader implications for Spain’s political and cultural future. Professor Luengo was interviewed on 19 July 2024 by Deirdre Kelly, a lecturer in Spanish at Technological University Dublin. This interview has been translated from Spanish and edited for length and clarity.