2019_02_05_FYL_noticia_ana_casas_premio

Ana María Casas, doctoral student at the School of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Navarra, has won the competition de research Sancho el Sabio 2018 for her work "Tratamiento ficcional de un suceso histórico: el caso de Patria, de Fernando Aramburu" (Fictional treatment of a historical event: the case of Patria, by Fernando Aramburu). The competition, convened by the Sancho el Sabio Foundation, is aimed at students of Master's Degree and doctorate, with the goal to promote research on Basque culture.

In her work, philologist and journalist Ana María Casas analyzes the way in which Aramburu's novel takes the so-called "years of lead" of ETA terrorism and applies fictional procedures to obtain an autonomous literary product: "First of all, the novel's totalizing zeal stands out, which includes the life experiences of both victims and terrorists and witnesses of the violence," she says.

Secondly, the researcher adds, "the configuration of a symbolic code enhances the emotional and sentimental charge of the work: the rain works as a catalyst element of the report and anticipator of the tragedy, the rupture represents the irreparable consequences of terrorism, and the photograph works as a configurator of the identity of victim, victimizer and hero. Finally, the literary style and technique are subordinated to the understanding of the novel in its treatment of history".

He adds that "all this is at the service of the emotional ending, in which the Homeland with a capital letter, which is the title of the novel, is on its way to overcoming the fracture of terrorism through the symbolic embrace between the two protagonists".

Literary event and publishing house

Ana María Casas defines this work as "one of the most important literary and publishing events of recent years, after selling more than 700,000 copies in 28 editions". Likewise, she affirms that "although in general it has received an applause and an unlimited welcome, Patria has been considered with a certain lukewarmness among some Basque critics". In his opinion, although "it is true that many very good novels have been published about the topic, they have not achieved the public repercussion and success publishing house of Aramburu's work".

Ana María Casas has a degree in Philology Hispanic and Journalism from the University of Navarra, and is currently doing her doctorate at department of Philology of the School of Philosophy and Letters of the academic center.