Political languages and concepts in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries, 1750-1850.

Authors

  • JOSÉ CARLOS CHIARAMONTE

Keywords:

Anachronism, nationality, federalism, sovereignty.

Abstract

This article deals first with the risk of anachronism in the interpretation of past political languages. The awareness of such problem is not a recent outcome of modern language sciences since it was already in the minds of Seventeenth century (and later) authors. Furthermore, the article focuses on two personal features that might also bias the perspective of historians in their attempts to understand the «spirit of the age» of political languages from the past: nationality and religion. Their affective and ethical strength frequently causes a distortion clearly found in the history of national origins and political theories analyzed herein.

Published

2008-06-11

Issue

Section

ARTICLES