New publication: “Hispania, Al-Andalus and Spain: Identity and nationalism in the history of the Iberian Peninsula”

The Marcial Pons publishing firm has just published this volume, edited by Maribel Fierro and Alejandro García Sanjuán, and based on the research seminar organized at Casa Árabe about this issue.

The medieval period has traditionally been considered a key era in shaping Spain’s national identity, both from the traditionalist perspective represented by Sánchez-Albornoz and articulated around the notion of the “Reconquista,” and through the much more marginal theses (above all in Spain) of Américo Castro, from whom the paradigm of “coexistence” and the “three cultures” originated. The meaning of Al-Andalus and its use within this construct of national identity is a controversial subject, dependent upon views which are still in opposition and isolated from one another.

Regarding this topic, the volume recently published by Marcial Pons and edited by Maribel Fierro and Alejandro García Sanjuán constitutes an experience never before seen in Spanish academia, because it brings together research from the most diverse of trends and fields, including both medieval history and Arabism, to discuss a series of issues that have traditionally been quite controversial in our country.

This work is the result of a seminar organized by Casa Árabe in Madrid and directed by the editors of that seminar from November 14-15, 2016, with the title “Hispania, Al-Andalus and Spain: Identity and nationalism on the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages,” With its inclusive perspective, the seminar brought together researchers from diverse fields and opposing schools of thought for the first time ever at the same table, in an open exercise for analysis and reflection.

Although, unfortunately, not all those who participated in the seminar were finally able to do so in the written volume, texts from other authors who did not attend could be included, thereby further enriching the debate. As a whole, the work is made up of a total of twenty-two contributions, all belonging to different historiographical traditions and responding to sometimes radically opposed approaches, not only regarding the peninsular medieval period itself, but also basic matters such as the very concept of history, and the way in which study of the past should be examined from our perspective in the present. Thinking about the different ways in which our view of the past can be oriented, the book has been divided into four sections: Reflections on How We Look (with contributions by Fernando Rodríguez Mediano, Fernando Bravo López, Eduardo Manzano Moreno, Carlos de Ayala Martínez, Jesús Torrecilla, Xavier Andreu-Miralles and Iñaki Martín Viso), Views From Both Shores (Luis F. Bernabé Pons, María Ángeles Gallego, José Antonio González Alcantud, Emilio González Ferrín, Xavier Ballestín Navarro and Jesús Lorenzo Jiménez), The Persistent Glance (Vicente Ángel Álvarez Palenzuela, Armando Besga Marroquín, Santiago Cantera Montenegro, Felipe Maíllo Salgado and Rafael Sánchez Saus) and Looks Close-up (Luis A. García Moreno, Bernabé López García, Gonzalo Pasamar and María Isabel Pérez de Tudela Velasco).

The texts were written with a broad, non-specialized audience in mind, including those interested in learning about the past but who do not necessarily have an academic background. The goal is to offer readers a broad, modern-day viewpoint on aspects which affect both past interpretations and their reflection in the present.

Another result of the seminar, and of the questions raised by the attending audience, was realizing the difficulty which average citizens experience in understanding how history is written. In order to keep this exercise in interaction and debate open to a wider audience, a few of the participants in the seminar launched the publication of a magazine to spread information to the public about history, titled Al-Andalus and History, giving open access, free of charge.

As soon as the health situation allows, we hope to be able to hold a presentation for the book at Casa Árabe, at an event attended by the various authors.

Further information and debate at:
Hispania, Al-Andalus and Spain at Marcial Pons
Hispania, Al-Andalus and Spain at the CSIC’s Center for Human and Social Sciences.

Here you can read the first pages of Hispania, Al-Andalus and Spain [PDF]