Abstract
After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the European states began to use archaological research as a way to legitimize their political aspirations. In Catalonia, towards the end of the nineteenth century, the cultural movements of the Renaixenca and Noucentisme called for a renaissance of Catalan culture that would underscore its distinctive nature visa- vis the Spanish state. This proposal was quickly followed by political demands for self-government and recognition of the Catalan language and its areas of influence. For instance, Enric Prat de la Riba, one of the main activists and ideologists of Catalan nationalism, used the results of the excavations of Empuries as the basis of his politics of difference. This paper explores the influence of nationalism on the organization of Catalan archaology through an analysis of the political discourses of the leaders of the Regionalist League of Catalonia ( Lliga Regionalista de Catalunya) and the archives of the History and Archaology Section of the Institute of Catalan Studies ( Institut d’Estudis Catalans).
Highlights
RESUMEN Después del Congreso de Viena (1815), los estados europeos comenzaron a utilizar la arqueología para legitimar VXV GHUHFKRV SROtWLFRV
In the late nineteenth century, Catalonia was in the midst of a political crisis
The Catalan nationalists sought WR UHDI¿UP WKH LGHQWLW\ RI WKHLU FRXQWU\ DV DQ HQWLW\ that was clearly differentiated from Spain
Summary
During the second half of the nineteenth century, archeological investigations in Catalonia were run by the provincial Commissions for Historic and Artistic Monuments. Today the public wants to see the reestablishment and reorganization of everything connected with truly Catalan culture It would be remiss of us, in the eyes of Catalonia but in the eyes of all nations, if we did not do everything in our power to strengthen the intensity of this culture, providing all possible means and organizing institutions so that they may comply with such an objective, giving them the material means they need and ensuring that the example of the Provincial Council will be followed by other organizations to help promote our initiative and make our efforts complete « WKH ¿UVW TXHVWLRQ WKDW KDV DULVHQ FRQFHUQV whether it would be a good idea to increase WKH VWDII DQG IXQGLQJ RI RQH WKH VFLHQWL¿F ERGies involved, widening its area of action, or whether it would be better to create a new body which, precisely because it was new, would be under more of an obligation to prove itself and could carry out more fruitful initiatives. The creation of the IEC was another attempt to put Catalonia on a level with European states that had their own VFLHQWL¿F LQVWLWXWLRQV DQG OLNH RWKHU QDWLRQV WR carry out research whose main objective was the appraisal of its history so as to provide new ideological resources and arguments on which to base nationalist political demands
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