Absent does not necessarily Mean Inexistent. Past and Present Responsibility in Spanish Historiography

Abstract

This paper briefly outlines the developmental scope of the historians’ profession in Spain in the latest hundred years. In its first part, it analyzes the links between professionalization and history and national identity concepts, remarkably upon the breaks breaded by the Spanish Civil War and the first establishment of the Francoist Dictatorship. Secondly, it deals with the inheritance inertia suffered by the Spanish current historiography in order to update the debate on the cuestión nacional (national matter). Conclusively, the international context of our historiography is used as a reflection framework on the connection between theoretical problems and the practice of historical responsibility.