To be or not to be. The visión of Spanish nationa-lism from the Catalanist perspective

Abstract

Generally speaking, Spanish historians (and, of course, the foreign his-panists who, in such matters, trail after them) have not found it useful to read and profit from historians who are defined as «nationalist» (Le., who question the existence of a single and/or simple «Spanish nation» from the narrative perspective of other alleged «national entities» historically within «Spain». The response of Spanish historians to such a challenge has tended to be defensive, even aggressive, in the face of what is perceived to be an attack on the coherence of their field of study. The author of this essay, a Barcelona-based historian generally disliked by Catalán nationalist historians for his critical tone towards their historiographic production, sug-gests that such a closed and defensive posture by Spanish historians is a serious scientific or analytical mistake, as the criticism offered from the different perspective of «Hispanic» but «non-Spanish» (or even «anti-Spa-nish») historiographies is rich in insights, most precisely for practioners of «Spanish historiography», given their vested interest in understanding «Spain» and «Spanishness» as a field of study. The author offers some ba-sic examples of useful «lessons» to be gleaned from the perspective of Catalán nationalist historiography.