Images of medieval "independence" and "statehood" in the modern Catalon-Spanish memorial confrontation.

Abstract

Introduction. The author in the presented article analyses the forms and features of the development of historical politics in modern Catalonia through the prism of the representation of medievalist concepts in the memorial culture of the regional society. The purpose of the study is to analyse medievalist rhetoric in modern wars of memory and those memorial cultures that arise and develop in Catalan society. Methods. Methodologically, the article is based on the principles of interdisciplinary historiography proposed for the analysis of memorial culture, which makes it possible to analyse medieval images as a form of historical policy aimed at instrumentalizing history. Results. The author analyses the role and place of regional intellectual communities and political elites as the main participants in historical politics, defined as forms of development of nationalism and the Catalan nationalist imagination. The novelty of the research lies in the study of the current (modern) stage in the development of the historical politics of the regional Catalan society through the prism of the actualization of medievalist rhetoric. The article shows that the intellectual community in modern Catalonia is a systemic segment of modern historical politics and the development of a nationalist version of memorial culture. The author believes that the range of memorial practices of regional intellectuals of Catalonia is limited primarily by their participation in strengthening civic identity through the prism of actualization and visualization in public and political discourse of the concepts of “statehood” and “independence” localized in the medievalist coordinate system through the active use of medieval images of the historical experience of Catalonia. Conclusions. The author concludes that medievalist rhetoric actually became a form of nationalization of history, promoting the integration of historical imagination and memorial culture into the discourse of Catalan political nationalism. It is assumed that the participation of regional intellectuals in memory wars actualizes the situation of politicization and ideologization of history, its instrumentalization within the framework of medievalist rhetoric, emphasizing the political, ideological and ethnic heterogeneity of society.