Archaeology and nationalism: The development of archaeology in Catalonia in the early twentieth century

Abstract

espanolDespues del Congreso de Viena (1815), los estados europeos comenzaron a utilizar la arqueologia para legitimar sus derechos politicos. En este contexto, en la Cataluna de finales del siglo XIX, los movimientos culturales de la Renaixenca y el Noucentisme promulgaron el renacimiento de la cultura catalana para crear y consolidar sus diferencias ideologicas con el estado espanol. Dicha propuesta se vio acompanada de una serie de exigencias politicas y de reconocimiento de la lengua catalana y de su area de influencia. Por ejemplo, Enric Prat de la Riba, uno de los principales activistas y pensadores del nacionalismo catalan, utilizo las investigaciones arqueologicas en la colonia griega de Empuries para fundamentar su politica de la diferencia. Este articulo analiza la influencia del nacionalismo en la organizacion de la arqueologia catalana a traves de los discursos politicos de la Liga Regionalista Catalana y de los archivos de la seccion de historia y arqueologia del Instituto de Estudios Catalanes. EnglishAfter 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).

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