Cultural Responses to Terrorism: The March 11, 2004 Bombings in Madrid

My current research examines the representations in recent Spanish poetry of violence, solidarity, and memory, as these intersect with ethnic, sexual, gender, linguistic and religious otherness, globalization, communication technology, and nationalisms. I focus my analysis on the response to the Islamist terrorist bombings of working-class commuter trains in Madrid on March 11, 2004 (known in Spain as 11M). This event, which occurred days before national elections, exposed the contradictory cultural forces that underlie notions of national identity, religious expression, economic transformation, the role of the media, and the social contract in Spain today.

In the paper I propose for this conference, I will discuss the poetic texts left at the bombing sites in the months following the attacks, electronic texts from the Espacio de Palabras, and poems on the websites of victims’ associations, exploring their often-contradictory implications regarding the integration and role of foreign-born workers in Spanish society. I will focus in particular on the intersections between the religious texts (including predominantly Catholic, but also Buddhist and Islamic prayers); poems sent to Spain by Peruvians, Romanians, Ecuadorians (most of the victims were immigrants living in traditionally working class neighborhoods) as well as Moroccans (the bombers’ nationality); and poems of political and social protest contributed by leftist activists.