Most of historiography on contemporary Spain interprets terms such as nation and empire, national construction and imperialism, as if they were contradictory or self-disclaiming. After the American revolutionary processes of the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the imperial Spanish dimension would have been replaced by the purely national one, where the different liberal families, through a revolutionary process, firstly introduced a constitutional monarchical system and then clashed for the political articulation and internal cultural heritage of the nation. According to this reading, only during the Restauración borbónica, and then with the crisis of 1898, an "imperial conscience" would re-emerge as a component of a "mature" nationalism and capable of characterizing the colonial adventures in Africa of the twentieth century. However, as proposed by Josep Fradera, from the end of the eighteenth century - with the crisis atlántica and the process of Iberian-American independences - until the end of the "Isabeline era", Spain, from a metropolitan center of a great global empire, passed to be an "imperial nation". This research is focused on the political and cultural aspects of this passage: probing the permanence of the empire in the form of "imperial conscience" - a terminology taken from Anglo-Saxon and post-colonial historiography, especially from Alda Blanco's studies - in the era of liberalism and understand how this process engages in the construction of a national-patriotic imagery and rhetoric. Which role did the imperial dimension play in the different contexts that composed the complex and varied Spanish geography, for the definition of the nationalist constellation in the nineteenth century? The loss of most of the Ibero-American colonies until 1824 led to a double process in the Atlantic context: a different inclusion / exclusion of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines within the political, economic and administrative boundaries of the (imperial) nation; and the reconstruction of cultural and symbolic relationships with the former colonies through symbolic constructions such as panhispanism and hispanoamericanism. At the same time the imperial conscience was nourished by the search for new territories to be discovered, governed and colonized, especially in Africa. How to interpret this progressive "reorientation" towards Guinea and, in particular, Morocco, which will be so important in 20th century foreign policy? Spain was not any imperial nation or monarchy. In fact, it occupied a specific role within the European political and cultural order: leyenda negra and mito romántico conveyed and coagulated long-term representations and stereotypes - on the history, the ethnic character, the personalities that succeeded on the throne of Spain, colonialism, customs perceived as folkloric - which together established an "European image" of Spain, to paraphrase Edward Said. Furthermore, this image was based on a "semi-orientalization" of the Iberian country: a hybrid country, both picturesque and decadent, as much European as exotic and close to the Muslim Arabic tradition. These different matrices of representations were non-marginal components in the construction of a national-patriotic narrative and genealogy. This, since the end of the eighteenth century, remained linked to the rhetorical dimension of the empire and then to an (often vain) research of a renewed international role of the nation during the nineteenth century. Analyzing narrative sources - such as periodicals or novels rather than historiography, orientalistic studies and travel diaries - and through the identification of emblematic events such as the Guerra de Africa (1859-1860), it's shown that the loss most of the colonies did not mean abandoning the imperial propensity of Spain. It was, if anything, a transformation because of the different political and cultural conditions opened by the Era of liberalism.

Nella storiografia sulla Spagna contemporanea i termini nazione ed impero, costruzione nazionale e imperialismo sono spesso rappresentanti come tra loro contraddittori o autoescludenti. Con i processi rivoluzionari americani del primo quarto del XIX secolo, la dimensione imperiale spagnola avrebbe ceduto il passo a quella prettamente nazionale, dove le diverse famiglie liberali, attraverso un processo rivoluzionario, prima introdussero un sistema monarchico costituzionale e poi si scontrarono per l'articolazione politica e culturale interna della nazione. Secondo tale lettura, solo durante la Restauración borbonica e con la crisi del 1898, sarebbe riemersa una "coscienza imperiale" come componente di un nazionalismo "maturo" e capace, poi, di caratterizzare le avventure coloniali in Africa del XX secolo. Tuttavia, così come proposto da Josep Fradera, dalla fine del XVIII - con la crisis atlántica e i processi d’indipendenza iberoamericano - fino alla conclusione dell'era isabelina la Spagna divenne da metropoli di un grande impero globale a "nazione imperiale". La ricerca effettuata si concentra piuttosto, sugli aspetti politici e culturali di tale passaggio: sondare la permanenza dell'impero sotto forma di "coscienza imperiale" - terminologia cara alla storiografia anglosassone e post coloniale e ripresa dagli studi di Alda Blanco - nell'epoca del liberalismo e comprendere come questo processo si innesti nella costruzione di un immaginario e una retorica nazional-patriottici. Dunque, che ruolo ebbe la dimensione imperiale nei diversi contesti che componevano la complessa e variegata geografia spagnola, per la definizione della costellazione nazionalista nel XIX secolo? La perdita della maggior parte delle colonie iberoamericane fino al 1824 portò infatti ad un doppio processo nel contesto atlantico: una diversa inclusione/esclusione di Cuba, Porto Rico e Filippine all'interno del confine politico, economico e amministrativo della nazione (imperiale); e la ricostruzione di rapporti culturali e simbolici con le ex colonie attraverso costruzioni simboliche quali il pan hispanismo e l’hispanoamericanismo. Allo stesso tempo la coscienza imperiale veniva alimentata dalla ricerca di nuovi territori da scoprire, governare e colonizzare, soprattutto in Africa. Come interpretare questo progressivo "riorientamento" verso la Guinea ed il Marocco, in particolare, che sarà così importante nella politica estera del XX secolo? La Spagna non era una nazione imperiale o una monarchia qualsiasi. Occupava infatti un ruolo specifico all'interno dell'ordine politico e culturale europeo: leyenda negra e "mito romantico" veicolavano e coagulavano rappresentazioni e stereotipi di lungo periodo - sulla storia, il carattere etnico, le personalità che si erano succedute sul trono di Spagna, il colonialismo, gli usi e costumi folclorici - che insieme avevano favorito l'affermarsi di una "immagine europea" della Spagna, parafrasando Edward Said. Questa immagine poggiava, inoltre, su una "semi orientalizzazione" del paese iberico: paese ibrido poiché tanto pittoresco quanto decadente, tanto europeo quanto esotico e vicino alla tradizione arabo musulmana. Queste diverse matrici di rappresentazioni furono componenti non marginali nella costruzione di una narrativa e di una genealogia nazional-patriottica che, fin dalla fine del XVIII secolo, rimase legata alla dimensione retorica dell'impero e poi alla ricerca, spesso vana, di un rinnovato ruolo internazionale della nazione nel corso dell'Ottocento. Attraverso fonti narrative come i periodici o i romanzi piuttosto che la storiografia, e attraverso l'individuazione di eventi emblematici come la Guerra de África (1859-1860), viene dunque evidenziato come la perdita della maggior parte delle colonie non significò abbandono della propensione imperiale della Spagna ma semmai una sua trasformazione, a partire dalle diverse condizioni politiche e culturali aperte dall'era del liberalismo.

Identità nazionale, monarchia, impero. Costruire la Spagna nell'età del liberalismo (1782-1868) / DE LUCA, Emanuele. - (2018 Mar 29).

Identità nazionale, monarchia, impero. Costruire la Spagna nell'età del liberalismo (1782-1868)

DE LUCA, EMANUELE
2018-03-29

Abstract

Most of historiography on contemporary Spain interprets terms such as nation and empire, national construction and imperialism, as if they were contradictory or self-disclaiming. After the American revolutionary processes of the first quarter of the nineteenth century, the imperial Spanish dimension would have been replaced by the purely national one, where the different liberal families, through a revolutionary process, firstly introduced a constitutional monarchical system and then clashed for the political articulation and internal cultural heritage of the nation. According to this reading, only during the Restauración borbónica, and then with the crisis of 1898, an "imperial conscience" would re-emerge as a component of a "mature" nationalism and capable of characterizing the colonial adventures in Africa of the twentieth century. However, as proposed by Josep Fradera, from the end of the eighteenth century - with the crisis atlántica and the process of Iberian-American independences - until the end of the "Isabeline era", Spain, from a metropolitan center of a great global empire, passed to be an "imperial nation". This research is focused on the political and cultural aspects of this passage: probing the permanence of the empire in the form of "imperial conscience" - a terminology taken from Anglo-Saxon and post-colonial historiography, especially from Alda Blanco's studies - in the era of liberalism and understand how this process engages in the construction of a national-patriotic imagery and rhetoric. Which role did the imperial dimension play in the different contexts that composed the complex and varied Spanish geography, for the definition of the nationalist constellation in the nineteenth century? The loss of most of the Ibero-American colonies until 1824 led to a double process in the Atlantic context: a different inclusion / exclusion of Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines within the political, economic and administrative boundaries of the (imperial) nation; and the reconstruction of cultural and symbolic relationships with the former colonies through symbolic constructions such as panhispanism and hispanoamericanism. At the same time the imperial conscience was nourished by the search for new territories to be discovered, governed and colonized, especially in Africa. How to interpret this progressive "reorientation" towards Guinea and, in particular, Morocco, which will be so important in 20th century foreign policy? Spain was not any imperial nation or monarchy. In fact, it occupied a specific role within the European political and cultural order: leyenda negra and mito romántico conveyed and coagulated long-term representations and stereotypes - on the history, the ethnic character, the personalities that succeeded on the throne of Spain, colonialism, customs perceived as folkloric - which together established an "European image" of Spain, to paraphrase Edward Said. Furthermore, this image was based on a "semi-orientalization" of the Iberian country: a hybrid country, both picturesque and decadent, as much European as exotic and close to the Muslim Arabic tradition. These different matrices of representations were non-marginal components in the construction of a national-patriotic narrative and genealogy. This, since the end of the eighteenth century, remained linked to the rhetorical dimension of the empire and then to an (often vain) research of a renewed international role of the nation during the nineteenth century. Analyzing narrative sources - such as periodicals or novels rather than historiography, orientalistic studies and travel diaries - and through the identification of emblematic events such as the Guerra de Africa (1859-1860), it's shown that the loss most of the colonies did not mean abandoning the imperial propensity of Spain. It was, if anything, a transformation because of the different political and cultural conditions opened by the Era of liberalism.
29-mar-2018
ABBATTISTA, GUIDO
29
2015/2016
Settore M-STO/04 - Storia Contemporanea
Università degli Studi di Trieste
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11368/2924792
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