My thesis explores memory in the nineteenth-century Spanish short story (1850-1899), namely works by Leopoldo Alas (1852-1901). The project offers an innovative perspective of nineteenth-century Spain, drawing upon theoretical frameworks from the interdisciplinary field of memory studies to analyse how concepts of temporality, the future and memory are expressed in the short story form.

I aim to make the case for a more profound investigation of memory in the context of nineteenth-century literature and thought, moving beyond the predominant twentieth-century discussions of memory in Hispanic Studies. I will interrogate the ways in which debates have been historically framed around memory in the nineteenth century, examining the level of historical consciousness and continual reflection on recurrent violence. By analysing of the relationship between traumatic pasts and presents in the short story, novel ways of negotiating historical and temporal consciousness can be uncovered, and the dearth of memory studies work situated in the nineteenth century can be addressed.