The «Escuela de Estudios Hispanoamericanos»: origins and content of a cultural Enterprise

Abstract

After the interruption of the Civil War, the creation of the «Escuela de Estudios Hispanoamericanos» in 1942 enabled scholars to take up American studies once again in Seville. The cultural project they were engaged in had political implications for its authors –among whom Vicente Rodríguez Casado was particularly noteworthy– due to an intellectual formation immersed in the conservative panhispanic ideal born at the turn of the twentieth century. In spite of the academic tone of the School, connected to CSIC, its cultural vision was to have a marked impact because of its close association with the restorationist interpretation of history espoused by supporters of Catholic traditionalism. The similiarities and differences with other cultural projects at the heart of Francoism was a constant preoccupation of the EEH, to the point of producing serious confrontations to lead the cultural policy in Latin America.