The construction of the Spanish national discourse in the literary work of Modesto Lafuente

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This works examines how Modesto Lafuente, mostly known for being the author of the colossal 19^th century Historia General de España constructs the concept of collective Spanish identity in his earlier literary and journalistic works. For instance, in the satirical journal Fray Gerundio (1837-1842), El Teatro social del siglo XIX (1846), and Viages de Fr. Gerundio por Francia, Bélgica, Holanda y orillas del Rhin. It analyzes the mechanisms he uses to generate the feeling of national belonging thru the creation of imaginaries and the destruction of foreign myths about the Spanish nation.