Spanish Nationalisms

Resumen: El nacimiento de la Arqueología tiene una estrecha relación con el auge de los nacionalismos en toda Europa. En el estado español, tanto el nacionalismo centralista como los nacionalismos o regionalismos periféricos han utilizado referentes del pasado –a veces coincidentes– como sustento simbólico de sus narrativas. Es el caso de los celtas, pueblo mítico que ha servido tanto para afianzar la idea unitaria de España, como para refrendar la singularidad nacional/regional de territorios como Asturias y León. El papel de los arqueólogos en estos dos casos es analizado en este trabajo, pues supone una vía crucial para la reflexión historiográfica. Así, las narrativas académicas generadas en este ámbito adolecían habitualmente de una falta de crítica, que subordinaba el pasado prerromano a determinadas agendas políticas contemporáneas. La predominancia de la Historia Antigua o de visiones esencialistas, androcéntricas y socialmente conservadoras en los discursos arqueológicos caracterizan los estudios tradicionales sobre los grupos prerromanos de Asturias y León. Tras la consolidación del Estado de las Autonomías, el nacionalismo y el regionalismo se extendieron a amplias capas de la sociedad acompañados de discursos históricos que prescindieron de la legitimación de la Academia. Paradójicamente, estas narrativas reproducen discursos conservadores que tradicionalmente dominaban el discurso arqueológico. Ante esta situación, ¿nos corresponde a los arqueólogos asumir una posición multivocal liberal o deberíamos, en cambio, emprender acciones sociopolíticas críticas que inicien una autocrítica disciplinar y persigan transformar los marcos teórico-interpretativos dominantes?

Abstract: The origins of archaeology are intrinsically connected with the emergence of nationalism in Europe. Both Spanish centralist nationalism and peripheral nationalism and regionalist movements in the country are engaged in a political dispute but, paradoxically, have drawn upon similar symbolic resources in some cases. This is true regarding historic construct of the Celts in Asturias and León, where different political movements, either peripheral or centralist, have differently interpreted and used the Celts in their agendas depending on the historic context. This paper analyzes the role archaeologists have played in this process. Acritical discourses have prevailed in Iron Age Archaeology, which has always made the past subservient to contemporary political needs. In addition, Iron Age Archaeology has strongly relied on the disciplinary bias of Ancient History, and has been dominated by essentialist, androcentric and largely reactionary interpretations of society. With the advent of the Autonomous Communities in Spain, nationalism and regionalism permeated vast sectors of Spanish society, leading to the emergence of many popular discourses about the past that disregard Academic discourse. Paradoxically, these narratives reproduce conservative discourses that prevailed in archaeological research. Facing this situation, it is time for archaeologists to ask whether they should adopt a multivocal liberal stance tolerating different interpretations about the past, or a critical socio-political position seeking a deconstruction of the discipline and a transformation of the dominant interpretative frameworks that predate Spanish Archaeology.

This paper examines the way party elites in the UK and Spain discursively construct the nation and justify state integrity in the face of resurgent Catalan and Scottish demands for self-determination and independence. While in each case there is a plurality of conceptions of the state, in Spain the demos is predominantly defined as a single, indivisible nation of equal citizens while in the UK the focus is typically on a plurinational Union. This, we contend, shapes the arguments made in favor of state unity. The dominant case for state integrity in Spain is more negative, focused primarily on the unconstitutionality of independence and delegitimizing the independence agenda. In the UK, the predominant appeal to the Union is more positive and instrumental: as the country is perceived as a partnership entered into willingly, a case must be made for its continuation. This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of state nationalism and political dynamics in plurinational states by shedding light on the ways in which party elites understand and legitimize the state at moments of profound internal challenge.

[ES] El desarrollo del «Estado de las Autonomías» tras el restablecimiento de la democracia en España ha potenciado la proliferación de narrativas sobre el pasado que buscan legitimar las nuevas estructuras administrativas y homogeneizar sus formaciones identitarias. Esto se solapa con un creciente interés de la ciudadanía por el pasado y su escenificación en la esfera pública a través de recreaciones históricas. El estudio analiza tres recreaciones históricas en el noroeste español y su vinculación con discursos constructores de alteridad identitaria a nivel sociopolítico. Igualmente, estudia los intercambios y mediaciones producidas entre el conocimiento académico y su recepción por parte del público, demostrando cómo ciertas cuestiones sociopolíticas se ven reflejadas en eventos aparentemente neutrales.
[EN] The development of a quasi-federal administrative framework based on Regional Governments (Comunidades Autónomas) after the restoration of democracy in Spain, has led to the proliferation of narratives about the past that seek to legitimize the new administrative structures and homogenize their identity formations so as to reinforce their internal social cohesion. This process is paralleled by a growing public interest in the past and its staging through historical reenactments. The paper analyzes the connection between both processes in three historical recreations in northwest Spain. Also, it considers the reenactments as spaces where academic knowledge reaches and is assumed in multiple ways by the public. Despite the events seem to be largely neutral at first sight, our research suggests that they are actually highly ideologically charged.

The Fiestas de Astures y Romanos (The Festival of Astures and Romans) is a thriving historical re-enactment performed in the town of Astorga, in northwest Spain. The objective of our research has been to explore the complex interactions between politics, the public, and heritage management, and to evaluate their impact upon archaeology as a discipline. We draw on a participant
ethnography carried out during the 2011 event. The concept of ‘Celtic-Barbarian Assemblage’ enables us to understand how different usages of the pre-Roman past condition identity politics and heritage policies at the local level. Finally, we refl ect upon our fi ndings and suggest potential lines of action to tackle what we perceive to be the increasing gap between public and academic archaeology in Spain, whose long-term consequences can be detrimental for the discipline as a whole.