Creating Spaniards: Culture and National Identity in Republican Spain [Paperback]

Sandie Holguin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2002

Creating Spaniards is a cultural and intellectual history that explains the intersection of politics and culture, and the formation of a national identity, during Spain's Second Republic and Civil War. It counters recent scholarship claiming that leaders of the Second Republic had no programs for "inventing traditions" to encourage a Spanish national identity.

Focusing on the Second Republic, 1931-1936, Sandie Holguín illustrates how various intellectuals and politicians of the Republican-Socialist coalition used theater, literature, and film to aid the construction of a unified Spanish culture and history. She uses memoirs, journals, newspapers, parliamentary debates, and archival sources in her examination of the impact that cultural reforms had on the transformation of one of Europe's oldest states.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

"Holguín's book makes a sophisticated argument about the cultural war in Spain and its relationship to the formation of national identity. In fact, her book is one of the first to make such a strong link. Creating Spaniards makes an important contribution to Spanish historiography and will undoubtedly be read more broadly."-Pamela Radcliff, University of California, San Diego

"Sandie Holguín's account of cultural politics during the Second Republic illustrates the importance of the culture wars to the conflicts in Spain during the 1930s. Holguín describes the democratic companion to better-known cultural policies of the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and revolutionary Mexico."-Adrian Shubert, York University

About the Author

Sandie Holguín is assistant professor of history at the University of Oklahoma.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press; 1 edition (October 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0299176347
• ISBN-13: 978-0299176341
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,116,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If you like 20th century Spain...., October 25, 2005

By 

Pash "starlight57" (FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Creating Spaniards: Culture and National Identity in Republican Spain (Paperback)

...you will like this book. Otherwise, be wary. I had to read it for my Western Civilization class, it wasn't the worst book my teacher could have picked. I did like how it discussed the Misiones Pedagogicas and their libraries and traveling theaters. What really hurt me is the constant use of spanish words. They would only be defined in english once, and there were so many that I couldn't remember them all. There is also a lot of information about the Spainsh Civil War. I liked how the war was put in context of the culture they were trying to create. So, if you like Spain and esp. if you know Spanish, this will be a great book.