Every nation-building process requires the origins of the nation to be pinpointed in a remote past (which, in reality, has fuck – all to do with the nation.) Russians fixate on a Kievan prince from 1,000 years ago. Americans celebrate the Pilgrims. A lily-white colleague of mine from Mexico with the last name of Weinstein talks proudly of “our Aztec ancestors.”
The creators of Spain ‘ s national identity had a choice. They could decide that Spain had originated with the Romans. Spanish language obviously descends from Latin. Roman aqueducts, roads, and olive groves are still visible on the Iberian Peninsula. And there’s the issue of prestige. Who doesn’t want to descend from a culture that is as intellectually prestigious as that of the Romans?
The Spaniards’ other choice were Visigoths. Like the Romans, they were invaders of the Peninsula. But they brought no civilization, built nothing but a couple of ugly little shacks, and made no contribution to the Spanish language outside of the word “guerra” (war).
So who do you think the Enlightened thinkers, the huge believers in progress and civilization, chose as the supposed creators of Spain?
Shockingly, in a fit of what an historian called “interpretative schizophrenia”, the Enlightened thinkers threw over the refined, civilized Romans and embraced the stupid, smelly Visigoths. Romans were labeled effeminate and degenerate, and the liberation from their oppressive rule by the “truly Spanish” Visigoths was celebrated.
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