Los hunos y los hotros

Abstract

The expression hunos y hotros used by Unamuno to refer to the Nationalists and the Republicans (during the Spanish civil war) is considerably inadequate if used to comprehend historical phenomena themselves. However, it literally resonated with great popularity. What exactly did the honorary dean of the University of Salamanca mean by this expression? It is clear that if Unamuno designated hunos y hotros for these two opposing sides, he did so to underscore the barbarism that the acts of violence proliferated by both the military rebels as well as the leftists. This, however, is insufficient, and I believe that there are two concepts, sometimes implicit and others explicit, that can be found in this expression: 1) the equivalent of hunos y hotros at a political level (two forms, concave and convex for the same phenomenon) and 2) the degeneration of the Spanish at pathologic level, propagated by and collective dementia, as a cause of the war-time violence. The essay ends with a note about Giovanni Amendola, a liberal representative who was assassinated by the Blackshirts 95 years ago, old friend and correspondent for Unamuno, and victim of the violence and morbid degeneration of the hunos.