8. The Ethics of Oblivion

Personal, National, and Cultural Memories in the Films of Pedro Almodóvar

Summary

This chapter researches the articulation of a transformative idea of memory in Almodóvar's films: a theory of memory profoundly based on the workings of narrative knowledge, on the weaving of stories that attempt not only to heal the devastating effects of trauma on its victims, but also of stories that manage to steal away from the perpetrators the power to decide over the actual meaning of the traumatic event they inflicted upon others. Recent theorizations of the cultural and political dimensions of trauma have attempted to explore the connections between its personal and social dimensions. Closely related to thematization of the rhopographic object is the often-noted centrality that accessories and decoration play in Almodóvar's films. Clothing, makeup, accoutrements, hairstyle, and decoration, appear, at first sight, to dictate, more than indicate, the personality and behavior of most of his characters.