For me it was important not only to tell Soledad Tartera i Vilanova ’ s story , but also to bring attention to the stories of other women through intimate micro-stories and testimonies from their relatives , mainly their children and grandchildren . These personal stories have been silent and invisible , and so , by bringing them together , they become the story and voice of a collective . And that story and that voice , combined with the reflection on certain issues , make Canción de una dama a la sombra a piece about absence , courage , the right image and oblivion .
The diary of Marguerite Duras , which she wrote in April 1945 , in the weeks prior to and following the return of her husband , a prisoner in the Dachau Concentration Camp , moved me deeply .
For the first time I read a corporeal and emotional description of what it means for a woman to wait for her husband not knowing if he is alive or dead . This story connected me with the story of my country and the women who still do not know where the bodies of their disappeared , arrested husbands are .
We ’ re in the vanguard of a nameless battle , a battle without arms or bloodshed or glory : we ’ re in the vanguard of waiting .
Behind us is civilisation in ashes , and all the thought , treasured for centuries – writes Duras –. Words that in the current context echo like waves .
APPENDIX
No date My dear Eugenia
How it made me feel to hold a letter written by you …. I think you have learned to read enough to understand my handwriting , and you will know how to answer me , by yourself .
I want you to write to me , without your mother dictating what you have to write . I want you to tell me what you and Alberto do , how you live , what you play , what you do at school , everything you have learned .
I also want you to send me a drawing , I really like them .
I would love to be with you to make you into a diligent and hardworking young woman , but you know that now that is impossible . I am very far away , in Germany , and to come back , it would take me at least a week by train …. non-stop . It is very cold here . We have already had snow . But I ’ m fine (…)
Sunday , 18 th February 1940 My dear Soledad ,
In the small café in the town there is a jukebox and they often play a song , French of course , and when I hear it , it always feels as if it is you singing it . The song goes like this :
¨J ’ attendrai , le jour et la nuit . J ’ attendrai toujours ton retour . J ’ attendrai … ¨ Which means : ¨I will wait , day and night . I will wait for you to come home . I will wait … ¨ I can see you , with our children , thinking about me , almost pronouncing the same words as the song .
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Observing Memories Issue 6