Weaponizing Historical Knowledge: the Notion of Reconquista in Spanish Nationalism

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2020
Author
García Sanjuán, Alejandro
Suggested citation
García Sanjuán, Alejandro; . (2020) . Weaponizing Historical Knowledge: the Notion of Reconquista in Spanish Nationalism. Imago temporis: medium Aevum, 2020, núm. 14, p. 133-162. https://doi.org/10.21001/itma.2020.14.04.
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Abstract
The notion of Reconquista is the product of 19th-century Spanish Nationalist thinking. Although developed as an academic concept, it played, at the same time, a crucial political and ideological role, thus holding a very powerful and potentially toxic ideological burden, chiefly consisting of the idea
that Spain is a nation shaped against Islam. Its dual academic and ideological nature makes it a highly problematic concept that greatly contributed to produce a largely biased and distorted vision of the Iberian medieval past, aimed at delegitimizing the Islamic presence (al-Andalus) and therefore at legitimizing the Christian conquest of the Muslim territory. Over the last years and in the framework of the Clash of Civilizations doctrine, conservative and far-right scholarly and political outlets reignited the most ideological version of the Reconquista, thus raising a major challenge for academic historians.
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http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/69327
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21001/itma.2020.14.04
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Imago temporis: medium Aevum, 2020, núm. 14, p. 133-162
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cc-by (c) Edicions de la Universitat de Lleida, 2020
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as cc-by (c) Edicions de la Universitat de Lleida, 2020