Interpreting Spanish Colonialism - by Christopher Schmidt-Nowara & John M Nieto Phillips (Paperback)
About this item
Highlights
- Interpreting Spanish Colonialism offers a compelling examination of how historians in Spain and the Americas have come to understand and write about the Spanish colonial past and its meanings for national presents.
- Author(s): Christopher Schmidt-Nowara & John M Nieto Phillips
- 279 Pages
- History, World
Description
About the Book
Scholars from Spain, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States discuss historical writings of the past and how our understanding of the colonial era has been influenced by the expectations of the day.Book Synopsis
Interpreting Spanish Colonialism offers a compelling examination of how historians in Spain and the Americas have come to understand and write about the Spanish colonial past and its meanings for national presents. Working from a transnational perspective, the book brings together scholars of Spain, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States. The eight essays situate historians' writings within the context of their day, suggesting how "history" has--perhaps more often than not--responded to present-day needs, agendas, and expectations.
This collection retraces the link between historiography and nation-building in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It also explores how and why Spain and its colonies came to be depicted as "backward" and "marginal" to other European and U.S. "modern" regimes. Finally, it questions the contours of contemporary discussions of colonial and postcolonial histories that have remained largely silent about the legacies of centuries of Spanish rule.
Review Quotes
"ÝAn¨ excellent and eclectic collection of essays...this is a book that should find its way in to many a graduate seminar."
