Graphic novel on Chernobil tragedy: Chernóbil - La Zona

On April 26th 1986 the 4th reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded. I was at university at the time and still recall the TV images, the lack of clear information and the discussions about the effects on the explosion. We soon learned  that it was the worst nuclear catastrophe in history and the amount of radioactivity released into the atmosphere was equivalent of hundreds of Hiroshima bombs. 

The effects of this massive radioactive release reached locations over 2000 km away but the worst part was for the citizens of Pripyat, the city where most of the workers in the power station lived. They were exposed to extreme radiation for days until the Soviet authorities finally decided to intervene. Originally these were precautionary measures which involved removing the residents for a few days; however, they will later be told they can never return again. As a result of the radiation exposure, many workers involved in the cleaning of the area died. The cancer rate increased exponentially - thousands of children were born with malformations and a huge piece of territory in Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia is still unable to grow vegetables for human consumption.

The consequences of the radiation will be present in this area for hundreds if not thousands of years. However, the local authorities have opened the doors to controlled tourist visits in the hope that this will bring money and opportunities for the now almost empty area.

Francisco Sánchez and Natacha Bustos published a graphic novel in 2011 that tells us the story of what happened back in 1986 from the point of view of the people directly affected by the tragedy, the people working in the nuclear power station and their families in Pripyat. 

Francisco Sánchez visited an exhibition about the catastrophe in 2006 in Barcelona and he was impressed by the experience. The topic almost became an obsession for him and he spent years researching about the causes and effects of the event. He wanted to see and portray how the catastrophe has broken the lives and dreams of many people and their children. In 2009 he visited the area to gather graphic material and learn about the actual situation after almost 25 years. The graphic material would be used by the drawer to show the atmosphere of a soviet city very accurately in the novel.

Most of the previous information was taken from the following website.

The publication of the graphic novel in 2011, 25 years after the catastrophe, coincided  in time with the accident in Fukushima, something both authors commented in the presentation of their novel. And again, not all the information about what happened in Japan has been released to the public.

The graphic novel can definitely be used in a bilingual or IB program. It is linguistically attractive and deals with many topics that are relevant to the program of studies and our students' lives. Students will definitely enjoy researching and commenting about most of the topics in the novel:

• What are the roles of governments in a crisis?
• Can international help be a solution in a crisis?
• To what extent should individuals be able to exercise their freedom of speech to access information during a crisis? 
• How can we harness energy while minimalizing negatives effects on nature?
• Which people are most vulnerable during a crisis?
• How can we apply what we've learned to deal with future problems?
• How the catastrophe has affected nuclear programs in Canada and all over the world? 

We can get more information about Chernobyl and its terrible effects on the website of Greenpeace Mexico.

"La noche temática" is a program on the Spanish TV which usually analyses controversial issues from several points of view. A documentary or film that deals with the chosen topic is also shown in the program. Over 25 years after the catastrophe in Chernobyl the topic was 'Alarma nuclear' in which the French documentary "Déchets, le cauchemar du nucléaire", was shown. Unfortunately, many years after Chernobyl things are far from being solved. You can watch the documentary in Spanish in this link. I could not find an English version but there is a German version with English subtitles available.

I highly recommend this graphic novel to work with our students in Spanish. It depicts the tragedy in Chernobyl from the point of view of the people who suffered the most. It can be a great starting point to start a research project with our students.

Two autobiographical graphic novels for the Spanish class

I'd like two introduce two graphic novels that have two of the features that I have considered important in previous posts: they portray personal stories and deal with controversial issues that can lead to discussions and research in our classes. The authors, Cristina Durán and Miguel Ángel Giner, are a couple of artists from Valencia, Spain. They have produced numerous artworks since 1993 in fields such as text books illustration, publicity, comics, etc. at their own art studio.

In 2009 they published their first autobiographical graphic novel, Una posiblidad entre mil (A chance out a thousand). Cristina and Miguel Angel have their first child, Laia, but her life is at risk starting when she was born due to health issues. Their daily routine consists of visiting hospitals, rehabilitation units and doctors. There is only one chance in a thousand for the baby to survive and she fights to grasp it with all her strength, affecting everyone around her with her zest and optimism for life.

The novel follows the authors' physical and emotional trip until Laia starts to go to school. We witness their devastation when they have to assume Laia´s condition that will affect her for the rest of her life. But we also witness their determination to shower their child with love and care through this often harsh journey.

Some  of the the discussion themes in the novel are:

• Parenthood
• The integration of handicapped children and the acceptance of the differences
• The role of family and society
• The importance of determination to achieve our dreams

La Máquina de Efrén, published in 2012, is the continuation to Una posibilidad entre mil. The graphic novel continues the journey initiated after Laia's birth. Cristina and Miguel Ángel always wanted to have one more member in the family, an adopted child. Both authors tell us the process of getting an adopted girl from Ethiopia. We experience their excitement, their anguish through all the bureaucratic process and the joy of achieving their goal of having one more child in the family. We also witness their trip to an unknown country for them, Ethiopia, and share their respect for a country full of problems but full of dignity too.

As in Una posibilidad entre mil, there are numerous topics to discuss with our students:

• Parenthood
• Responsibility
• Adoption
• First world versus third world
• Multiculturalism
• The right of everyone to happiness

Our students will definitely enjoy following Cristina and Miguel Angel's emotional journey through parenthood, compromise and commitment to their family and values. They will get attached to the characters and will realize about the importance of learning to respect the differences and being able to accept everyone. 

The authors talk about their work together and about adoption in La máquina de Efrén.
The graphic novels' website.
The authors' study website.
Pillada por ti, a free online comic on violence against women by the same authors.
Article in newspaper El Mundo on Una posibilidad entre mil.
First pages La máquina de Efrén
First pages Una posibilidad entre mil

Resources to understand the Spanish Civil War (Review!)

This is a summary of all the novels, short stories and graphic novels about the Spanish Civil War that I showcased in previos posts. Naturally, there are many other texts and resources that we can use to introduce the topic of the Spanish Civil War in our programs.

Los Surcos del Azar, a graphic novel for the Spanish class

I have been showcasing resources about the Spanish Civil War. It is a very interesting topic to work with our students because they are familiar with the historical events around that time in Europe. It is important that they are aware how these events are interrelated and the fact that the Spanish Civil War cannot be understood outside the rise of totalitarianism in European countries.

I also like graphic novels for many reasons. They can help students to get used to reading in a second language and enjoy it. Another important reason is because authors tell us personal experiences which students can relate to easily. There has been a great production of graphic novels in Spanish speaking countries in the last years and we can use them in our Spanish classes.

Paco Roca is one of my favourite authors. I have introduced his award winning graphic novel Arrugas, which I highly recommend . Today I'd like to talk about his latest work, Los surcos del azar , which explores the lives of Republican soldiers after the Spanish Civil War and their involvement in the Second World War.  It is not the first time that Paco Roca uses the Spanish Civil or post-war as the  setting  one of his stories. In El Faro we read the story of Francisco, a young republican soldier. He became involved in the war by being conscripted like many other young Spaniards. After the war he flees and meets Telmo, an old lighthouse keeper who lives his life freely. Telmo will guide Francisco to a world of adventure and discovery until Francisco finally finds his place in the world away from his traumatic experience in the war.

Paco Roca was also the artist in El Angel de la Retirada published in French with a storyboard by French writer Serguei Dounovetz. More information in a previous entry.

Los Surcos del Azar was published in 2013. It is probably his most ambitious work up to now and  again depicts the lives and fates of the Republican soldiers who had to leave Spain after Franco´s victory in 1939. The title is taken from a poem by Spanish poet, Antonio Machado in his book Campos de Castilla (Proverbios y Cantares II):

¿Para qué llaman caminos

a los surcos del azar?...

Todo el que camina anda,

como Jesús, sobre el mar.

Antonio Machado had to leave Spain in 1939 entering France on foot accompanied by his ancient mother with the rest of refugees. This scene is portrayed in the novel as a token of the helplessness of the situation for the refugees. The poet and his mother died a month later in the small town of Collioure, which has become a place for pilgrimage.

In this article Paco Roca explains how he started the project after meeting Manuel Fernandez and Luis Royo in Paris in 2008 during the presentation of La Nueve, los españoles que liberaron Paris by Evelyn Mesquida. They were two of the few survivors of the company and Paco Roca found the story fascinating. Probably, we would have seen many films about their lives, had they been from a different country. 

The author started to research about these historical facts and found Miguel Campos, another member of La Nueve who disappeared mysteriously just after the liberation of Paris. The novel follows Miguel Campo´s life through his conversations with the author,  like a documentary and 70 years after everything happened. We learn that he is one of 1,800 lucky ones who could board the ship Stanbrook in Alicante port in 1939, where over 15,000 people where waiting for other ships which never came. Then we follow his steps in Oran, Algeria and how the French authorities put them in concentration camps to build the never completed Sahara railways.

With many other exiled Spanish he takes part in the Tunisia campaign against General Rommel and then the group of Spanish republicans joined Leclerc's army to form La Nueve company. The company is taken to England for training and after the D-Day they start their trip to Paris taking part in uncountable battles. When the French leader de Gaulle learns that a revolt has broken up in Paris against the Nazis, he asks the alleys to attack Paris. It is August 1944 and the Americans are not willing to enter the French capital out of fear of the reprisals on the civil population by the Nazis authorities. However, de Gaulle insists and orders Leclerc to enter Paris. La Nueve company, like in many other French cities before, is the one leading the attack reaching Paris city hall on August 24, 1944. The German garrison surrenders the day after (source Wikipedia). The bulk of the Alley troops parade in Paris on the 26th.

Most of the members in La Nueve company have been fighting since 1936, and some will still participate in the battle of Strasbourg and will eventually reach Hitler´s Eagle Nest. However, the main character Miguel decides to abandon the war to head back to Spain with his partner to fight Franco. When his partner dies in a car accident on the way to Spain he decides not to fight any more, settling in France and mourn his dead partner and also his lost country. 

Paco Roca convinced Miguel to talk about all these events 70 years later. He had kept silent for all this time and not even his closest friends knew anything of his struggle. He was a deserter after all! The graphic novel is presented in the form of a documentary. Paco Roca asks questions to Miguel and there are continuous flashbacks to the facts he is recalling. We also are present at the process of getting to know each other until Miguel trusts the author completely.

The real history of Miguel could be the plot for films or TV series however it was lost like the rest of the members in La Nueve. The graphic novel unveils the story of a group of people who lost a war and along with it their home and their country but who never gave up trying to liberate Europe. It is also the story of Miguel who also lost his family, his partner and was condemned to a life of silence. The story is told in a realistic way, like a documentary,  showing the injustice of wars and the cruelties committed by the contestants.

I highly recommend the graphic novel for an ADULT reader.

More information about Paco Roca's work in La guía del cómic.
Interview in RTVE.
Article in El Pais newspaper.
Paco Roca´s website
Post on La Nueve company
Conference by Evelyn Mesquida on Vimeo

Graphic Novels about the Spanish Civil War

I have introduced several graphic novels before in this blog. I find that they are very good at motivating students to read. Moreover, they deal with very interesting topics and the exciting graphics entice reluctant readers to begin reading too.

The topic of the Spanish Civil War has not been a very popular topic for the graphic novels until recently. During Franco´s regime, the Spanish Civil War was a theme which many authors did not want to deal with out of fear for the censorship. After Franco´s death in 1975, Spanish society wanted to forget the dark times and enjoy the recently recovered freedom. It seemed that speaking about the Spanish Civil War would open old wounds. However, in the late 1980´s and 90´s a new generation of Spanish people and young writers started to ask questions about our past, about the fate of many Spanish citizens who were killed during the war or during Franco´s dictatorship or had to exile to another country. It was in many cases the grandchildren of these dead or exiled people who started to ask questions.

In this link from online newspaper, Público, we can get information about some comics about the Spanish Civil war, the exile of the republicans or the fate of those who lost the war and stayed in Spain during the almost 40 years of Franco´s regime. Also in this post in the blog Alita News there is recommended list of graphic novels set on the Spanish Civil War.

Although I have not read some of the suggested graphic novels that appear in the two given links, my suggestion for a Spanish Bilingual or IB program is:

Tristísima ceniza by Mikel Begoña and Iñaket. This novel recreates the story of Frank Capa and Gerda Taro when they meet in Paris after fleeing their home countries after the rise of anti-Semitism. From there they decide to travel to Spain to cover the Spanish Civil War. Gerda will travel to Barcelona and Capa to the Basque country. In the novel we follow Capa´s journey to Sollube battle just before the take of Bilbao, the biggest city in Northern Spain, by the Francoist army. Capa meets Luis Lezama in one of his trips to the front to take pictures. Luis had just been freed  by the Republican government and was going to join Franco's side again. This graphic novel can serve as a companion to those interested in learning about the lives of the photojournalists who went to Spain.

 



El Ángel de la Retirada deals with the lives of  the Spanish who went into exile after the Spanish Civil War. The authors, Spanish artist, Paco Roca, and French novelist and poet, Serguei Dounovetz, wanted to portrait the feelings of the descendants of those republicans who, after so many years, still have many unanswered questions about what happened.

Victoria is a young French with Spanish ancestry. She lives in Béziers, a small city in Southern France which is celebrating in 2009 the 120 years anniversary of the Spanish colony. Through Victoria´s eyes we understand the feelings of these people still struggling to find their own identities and trying to keep their roots in France. Through her dreams we experience the history of the Spanish diaspora to France. It started over 100 years ago when Spanish peasants went to pick up grapes and continued after the Spanish Civil War. When the refuges arrived in France, they were sent to concentration camps under very harsh conditions. This was the beginning of 1939 and when the Second World War started months later, many of these Spanish prisoners were forced to join the French army and fight the Nazis. The past and present of the Spanish colony are shown through Victoria´s eyes and her own experience.

This is a very interesting graphic novel that deals with very important issues and shows, one more time, the unfair treatment the Republican refugees received. Unfortunately, as we have know, history continues to repeat itself and today, thousands of refugees are unfairly treated all over the world. I also find very  meaningful the fact that the novel has been created by a Spanish artist, Paco Roca, and the script by French writer, Serguei Dounovetz .

Un Largo Silencio by Miguel Gallardo is a unique graphic novel in many ways. It is a homage of the author to his father, Francisco Gallardo, who fought with the Republican army during the Spanish Civil War and only spoke to his family about his traumatic experience after Franco's death in 1975. It is the same case as many Spanish people who were silent for too long. The book contains cartoons by Miguel Gallardo which are interlaced with the texts that his own father wrote depicting his memories from his childhood in a small village, going through his involvement in  the Spanish Civil War and his exile in the concentration camps in France. At the beginning of the 1940's he returned to Spain and was imprisoned again until, thanks to some friends' help, he could settle in Barcelona and get a job. The story finishes when Francisco meets his future wife. Miguel Gallardo kept his father's writing without any further editing. The result is a fresh and emotional account of his experience.

 

It is an easy novel to read that shows life in Spain before the arrival of the Republic. An impoverished society with deep differences among the classes. Then we follow Francisco through his struggle in the Spanish Civil War and his exile in France. A beautiful story full of tenderness and filial love. It would be my first suggestion for anyone learning about the Spanish Civil War.

Interview to Miguel Gallardo talking about his work.

A graphic novel for the Spanish Class: Vivir la vida: los sueños de Ciudad Juarez

An event that I have tried to follow in the last years is the situation in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Every now and then, perhaps too often, we read about the increasing number of women who have been murdered in this city. There are around 500 unsolved, serial murders from 1993 to 2010, mostly of young working-class women. There are another 600 cases of missing young women whose bodies have not been found (the numbers are provided by the novel writers).

Ciudad Juárez became one of the manufacturer centres of North America and it has attracted a large population of young people, mostly women to work in the factories. They are referred to as "las maquiladoras" who are there in search of a brighter future. The city became one of the crime capitals of North America and the situation is aggravated by its close proximity to the U.S. border. The fourth bridges in the city that lead to El Paso in Texas are some of the busiest ports of entry in USA. Drug and arm dealers set their headquarters in the city. The city also attracted thousands of illegal immigrants who are trying to escape poverty back home. The scale of the issue is so large that it seems very little attention has been paid to the fate of so many young women.

When I accidentally came upon the graphic novel Vivir la vida: los sueños de Ciudad Juarez I did not have enough time to read it and I did not think much of it until now. The story is simple: the French graphic novel writer, Edmond Badoin, proposes to his friend, artist Jean-MarcTroubet, to travel to Ciudad Juarez. Their idea is to understand the situation in the city and as they state in their graphic novel: "encontrar lugares en los que podamos dibujar. Hacer un retrato a los que quieran y preguntarles: ¿Cuál es su sueño? Contar la vida en esa ciudad en la que se muere." They want to paint the people in Ciudad Juárez, ask them what their dreams are and portray the life in a city famous for death.

The authors were inspired by their previous personal experience in Africa where they learnt first hand about the situation of the refugees and the immigrants who tried to illegally  cross  the strait of Gibraltar. Both writers describe their experiences at the beginning of the novel. The writers also acknowledge the impact of the novel 2666 by Chilean novelist Roberto Bolaño on this project. 2666 was published posthumously in 2004.  It depicts the murders  and the situation in Santa Teresa, a transit of Ciudad Juárez, as a metaphor of life and alienation in our 21st century 

Both French authors spent a month in 2010 in Ciudad Juárez. During that time they exchanged drawings with citizens who, in return, told them what their dreams were. As the authors mention, the interviewees' dreams are not too different from the rest of the world: "peace for the world", "a better life for my children" or "be able to help my community" are wishes that most of us would subscribe. During the month in Ciudad Juárez, the writers met with numerous people who were doing their best to improve the city life and give citizens hope: artists, teachers and anonymous people working hard to improve the working conditions at las maquiladoras. We can feel this hope in the drawings and texts in the novel.

Naturally, the references to the northern neighbour are constant. We experience the nightmare of trying to cross one of the 4 bridges to get to El Paso. We also learn that some American companies built their factories in the border because the environment legislation was not implemented or are non-existent. We feel that poverty, lack of a future push and will push thousands of people to go across the Rio Grande bridges to pursue their dreams.

Topics appear in the graphic novel, which we can use to work with our students are:

• Human rights
• Globalisation and International relations
• How ideologies (liberalism, mercantilism) affect people's lives 
• The role of culture an education
• Social classes
• Our dreams, our hopes 

I would only recommend this novel for grade 12 due to the harshness of the topics in it. However, despite the situation, we still find many positive things in the story, especially the people from Ciudad Juárez and their dreams.

There is a number of articles and videos about the novel available on the Internet. I think this interview in which Badoin answers 10 questions asked by a journalist, gives us the author's insight, of how he sees Ciudad Juarez,  a city that despite all the violence, has much room for the dreams of its citizens. It is a city to which the authors promise to go back.

Crisis, a current topic for the Spanish class

It is always important in a bilingual program to keep track of the cultural and social changes in countries where the target language, Spanish, is spoken. For example, at Western Canada High School in Calgary, they are doing research and studying the situation in Venezuela just after Chavez's death. Students have seen a documentary on the political, social and cultural situation in Venezuela and are reading two newspaper articles about what the future development of the country will be like. Then they are asked to write their views on the issue and how the situation in Venezuela can affect all of us globally.

In the case of Spain, unfortunately, the main conversation topic nowadays is the economical crisis. It seems that we will feel the consequences for many years to come. A possible topic of study of research could be how it is affecting people's lives.

We can say that after the Second World War every generation in Europe, Spain included, had a better standard of living than the previous one. Up to now. New generations in Europe face a bleak present and even darker future. The crisis is generally spread in Europe but in the case of Spain there are two features that make it even deeper:

• Political corruption and the lack of confidence of Spanish people in most political institutions
• The fact that a significant number of the university graduates in Spain have to leave the country to find a job related to their capacity and studies

We are able to gain access to almost an endless and updated supply of articles, TV programs almost every day that deal with this topic. However, I would like to use works of art, such as short films or graphic novels to help students "humanize"and gain insight of the situation. Naturally, artists, film directors and writers have been reflecting on the topic since around 2008. There are plenty of material that we can use. I wanted to focus on works that portray how the crisis is personally affecting people, their dreams and their lives. There are not so many examples showing the people directly affected by the crisis, the real protagonists.

My first choice is a very short film, Clarividencia by Luis María Ferrández. A divorced father is trying to explain to his daughter why Santa Claus is not bringing her any presents to his place this year . There are many other children who need them too and everyone needs to collaborate and share. She will get presents at her mother's. The reality is quite different as we find out at the end of the short film. The short film shows in a simple but powerful way the situation lots of families are going through. Tender, sad and with an open ending.

The second work of art is the graphic novel Andando by Torres, Carreres & Riego. Andando is the story of three different people, Andrés, Sergi and Claudia living in Hospitalet, Catalonia. They come from different social classes, have different jobs but the three of them are directly affected by the crisis that means, among many other things, that they lose their jobs.

Andrés is 60 and is unemployed for the first time in life. Pressed by the circumstances, he is made to reach an unfair agreement with his former employee. He feels a bit worthless because of his unemployment so he tries to find something to fill up his time. To make things worse, he has to financially support his daughter´s family, like so many families in Spain.

Sergi is an electrician running his own small company. Things go from bad to worse and eventually he decides to get rid of it and start a new career from scratch. He is always supported by his partner, a teacher in a school who also has her share with the crisis every day: lack of resources, neglected children and so on.

Claudia, the third character, is a senior associate in a prestigious law firm. It seems that she is so far away from the crisis until she gets pregnant and her employers, wanting to be rid of her began emotionally abusing her until she decided to quit her job and emigrate to Norway. It is "cheaper" for the company not to pay her maternal leave and to let her go. Still the old prejudices against women are the norm in some Spanish companies.

Andando shows in a  realistic way how crisis affects three totally different people. It deals with lots of topics but always focusing on how the crisis is affecting people directly. A very good choice for the higher levels.

Graphic Novels for the Spanish Class

A good way to engage students to read is to use graphic novels in our classes. Our students live in an audiovisual society and in many cases graphic novels and comics are the first step for them to enjoy reading. And reading has to be also an enjoyable experience. According to the American Library Association graphic novels are: "independently conceived full length narratives, bound volumes of longer sequential art series and collections of works as brief as comic strips". It is not easy to draw the line between comics and graphic novels although graphic novels usually offer more complex plots than comics.

Graphic novels have seen an increase in popularity in the Spanish speaking countries in the last 30 years. Their consideration has also changed and they are seen now like great artistic works worth being studied and used in classrooms. I am sure that there are plenty of ways of getting familiar with graphic novels in Spanish but I usually have a look at the publisher Astiberri. They are specialized in graphic novels and comics and their catalogue offers a huge choice of graphic novels from Spanish speaking countries as well as translations into Spanish of originals in other languages.

Another possibility is to have a look at the winners of  the Premio Nacional de Comic in Spain. They started to be awarded in 2007 but the 8 winners until 2012 are very good choices that we can use.

The third possibility is to have a look at the different publishers catalogues and choose. I particularly like the catalogue of classics that SM publishers offers. Titles such as El Lazarillo de Tormes or Don Juan Tenorio are published in the graphic novel format. They can be a very good way of introducing the Spanish Classics to our classes.

For  high school bilingual or IB program I would like to suggest some graphic novels to work with our students. I tried to find graphic novels that are visually attractive and offer complex plots that will allow for lots of discussions and open doors to various projects.

Arrugas by Paco Roca received the Premio Nacional de Cómic Award in 2008 and many other awards in Spain and other countries. Arrugas deals with a very delicate topic: Alzheimer disease and how the elderly are, in many cases, put away in homes in our modern society so they don´t bother the rest of us. Along with these main ideas some others come out like friendship, solidarity, the need of never lose hope and faith and also the controversial euthanasia. The author did thorough research for the novel, got information from real cases and visited several homes to learn more about the topic. Arrugas has been translated to several languages and has been a success in many countries.

In 2011 the film Arrugas was released with screenplay by the own writer. The film also received general acclaim and has become a very popular resource for Spanish classes. For information on the film click below.

I found this proposal by the teacher Maria Pilar Carilla in her blog. She offers activities to work with students based both on the comic and the film. They can be very useful for advanced classes.

Arrugas by Maria Pilar Carilla

Graphic novels in general and Arrugas in particular can be great tool for students to enjoy reading in Spanish. Please come back to the blog for future posts about graphic novels.