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This article examines the intergenerational transmission of cultural memory in Spain and Portugal and the role of gendered perspectives in opening up discussions about the legacies of the past. Drawing on Marianne Hirsch’s notion of surrogation as an alternative mode of intergenerational transfer, it explores how works by Pedro Almodóvar and Inês Pedrosa challenge heteronormative conceptions of cultural transmission through disrupted and displaced lineages. These works thus undermine Francoist and Salazarist notions of the family unit as the inherent foundation of the nation.

This article examines Portuguese contemporary memories of revolution and the end of colonialism as represented in the 2013 television series Depois do Adeus. It argues, first, that a popular series such as this can perform useful memory work in society, and, second, that the series use of nostalgia can be regarded as a productive critique of prevailing views of the end of empire. After an analysis of the early episodes of the series, and in particular their use of intermediality, the article concludes by suggesting areas where a more critical discourse of cultural memory might contribute to a revision of Portuguese analyses of colonialism, postcolonialism and decolonization.