New to SLU, Dr. Marco da Costa Also Debuts New Book
11/21/2023
Marco da Costa, Ph.D., has joined SLU-Madrid's political science faculty just months after publishing La Espa帽a nazi, which explores intellectual and political tendencies in Spain between 1931 and 1945.
La Espa帽a nazi, published by Taurus in March 2023, speaks to Spain's secret past and its connections to Nazism. In fact, da Costa didn't decide his book鈥檚 title 鈥� that was up to the publisher. Such a controversial title ("Nazi Spain," in English) stirs emotion, hooking clickbait when mentioned in Spanish newspapers.
Despite this, da Costa affirmed that "it wasn't all black and white, but more like a lot of gray areas."
The book delves into fascism and Falangism in dictator Franco's 20th-century Spain. It also hones in on similarities between Soviet and Spanish national socialism among intellectuals.
Upending taboo topics in modern Spanish society, da Costa tried to adhere to a neutral stance throughout his work. He emphasized the importance of avoiding generalizations.
"I took the book as a professional project," he said. "You have to be very careful with labels."
Since the book's publication, journalists of all political ideologies have actively sought to interview da Costa.
"They are surprisingly open," he said. "There's a certain maturity that allows them to take in all the content."
Da Costa will use the book in his Public Opinion and Mass Communication class during the spring 2024 term. He will also teach two other political science courses.
Informaci贸n en espa帽ol
Publicado por la prestigiosa Editorial Taurus en marzo de 2023, La Espa帽a nazi del Dr. Marco da Costa examina la desconocida historia de la recepci贸n e interpretaci贸n de la ideolog铆a nacionalsocialista en Espa帽a entre 1931 y 1945, a partir de una galer铆a extensa de intelectuales, escritores y pol铆ticos.
A pesar del t铆tulo del volumen ("No lo eleg铆", puntualiz贸 el profesor), La Espa帽a nazi pretende alejarse de etiquetas ideol贸gicas que suelen favorecer la polarizaci贸n tan habitual en los tiempos que corren.
"Hay que tener mucho cuidado con las etiquetas y m谩s hoy en d铆a".
"Intento no catalogar. No todo era blanco y negro en aquella 茅poca, sino que existieron muchos matices", nos explic贸.
La ambiciosa obra analiza, entre otras cosas, las semejanzas y diferencias entre el nacionalsocialismo y el falangismo espa帽ol durante los a帽os de la Rep煤blica espa帽ola, la guerra civil y el primer franquismo.
Al investigar, da Costa afirm贸 tener "la mente abierta": no cab铆a otra opci贸n, coment贸.
Como aborda muchos tab煤es a nivel social y pol铆tico en Espa帽a, da Costa lo tom贸 "como un trabajo profesional", donde prioriz贸, por encima de todo, la objetividad y la amenidad en la lectura.
Desde su publicaci贸n, varios medios de comunicaci贸n nacionales de distintas ideolog铆as pol铆ticas han entrevistado a da Costa, como El Pa铆s, 笔煤产濒颈肠辞, La Vanguardia o El Confidencial.
El Dr. da Costa har谩 eco de su investigaci贸n en su clase de Public Opinion & Mass Communication el pr贸ximo cuatrimestre.