Competing in Spanishness

The Spanish nationalism of the nineteenth-century Catalan intellectuality

Abstract

During the central decades of the 19th century existed in Spain a strong competition for the intellectual leadership of the contemporary Spanish nationalism. Two Spanish national projects had a profound impact into the nation and nationalism building: the Castillian project and the Catalan project. Both projects constructed a representation of the Spanish nation in history for its use in the present. Their fight for the intellectual and political leadership of Spain recreated el ser de España in history through proving better and superior spanishness to validate and justify its victory against the other.