Relatos de viajes a África (1880–1936): juego de espejos en la construcción del nacionalismo catalán y del colonialismo español.
Between 1880 and 1936 travel literature on northern Africa was widely cultivated in Catalonia: in all these texts, this area became the Spanish Orient. Texts written by religious people, military officers and merchants created specific images and discourses that were spread by local intellectuals: M...
| Published in: | Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (1475-3839) Vol. 97; no. 2; pp. 155 - 171 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Liverpool University Press / Journals
2020
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| Summary: | Between 1880 and 1936 travel literature on northern Africa was widely cultivated in Catalonia: in all these texts, this area became the Spanish Orient. Texts written by religious people, military officers and merchants created specific images and discourses that were spread by local intellectuals: Morocco was depicted as the Spanish Orient in all of them. This construction, which is common to the rest of Spain, acquires particular characteristics related to the Catalan national project of that time, which helped to build its identity in the Spanish context. Thus, Catalan orientalism related to Morocco converted this Spanish colony into a material, representational and textual space of 'in betweeness': representing in this light the problems and negative effects of the colonizing system carried out by Spain in Morocco led to a claim for another kind colonialism (closer to the French system) and helped to raise the Catalan national conscience. In this sense, Africa's role could be seen as an interplay of mirrors between Catalonia and Spain. En Cataluña entre 1880 y 1936 se publicaron numerosos relatos de viajes al Norte de África, escritos por religiosos, militares o comerciantes, que lo presentaban como el Oriente español. Como en el resto de España, dichos textos crearon discursos e imaginarios que, en el caso de Cataluña, adquirieron unos rasgos particulares al contribuir a definir la identidad nacional catalana en el contexto español de la época. Así, tras ser rápidamente diseminado entre la intelectualidad catalana, el orientalismo catalán en relación con Marruecos convierte a este protectorado español en un espacio material, representacional y textual 'intermedio': al denunciar los problemas y efectos negativos de la colonización que España estaba llevando allí, se estaba clamando por implementar otro tipo de colonialismo (más cercano al francés) a la vez que contribuía a elevar la conciencia nacional catalana. En este sentido, el papel de África en el marco orientalista español de la época puede verse como un juego de espejos entre Cataluña y España. |
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