Description
As Spain rebuilt its colonial regime in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines after the Spanish American revolutions, it turned to history to justify continued dominance. The metropolitan vision of history, however, always met with opposition in the colonies.
The Conquest of History examines how historians, officials, and civic groups in Spain and its colonies forged national histories out of the ruins and relics of the imperial past. By exploring controversies over the veracity of the Black Legend, the location of Christopher Columbus’s mortal remains, and the survival of indigenous cultures, Christopher Schmidt-Nowara’s richly documented study shows how history became implicated in the struggles over empire. It also considers how these approaches to the past, whether intended to defend or to criticize colonial rule, called into being new postcolonial histories of empire and of nations.
About the Author
Christopher Schmidt-Nowara is associate professor of history at Fordham University. He is the author of Empire and Antislavery: Spain, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, 1833-1874 and coeditor, with John Nieto-Phillips, of Interpreting Spanish Colonialism: Empires, N
Reviews
Schmidt-Nowara's excellent and persuasively argued book pushes the limits of empire studies, particularly through the examination of nation-building outside of a nationalist context. Fundamentally, this is a study of the art of interpretation and a clear example of the ways that textual and discourse analysis are ideological arms in the battle for the control over recounting the past. This book is essential for anyone interested in empire studies, comparative colonial studies, or the literature and culture of the Spanish, Philippine, or Antillean nineteenth century. - Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies ""Schmidt-Nowara engagingly examines different ways Spanish intellectuals approached their country's colonial experience and the often antithetical arguments made by intellectuals in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Well written and documented, this study is valuable for historians of ideas and the writing of history, as well as historians of Spain and Spanish America. Highly recommended."" - Choice
Book Information
ISBN 9780822959908
Author Christopher Schmidt-Nowara
Format Paperback
Page Count 296
Imprint University of Pittsburgh Press
Publisher University of Pittsburgh Press
The Conquest of History examines how historians, officials, and civic groups in Spain and its colonies forged national histories out of the ruins and relics of the imperial past. By exploring controversies over the veracity of the Black Legend, the location of Christopher Columbus’s mortal remains, and the survival of indigenous cultures, Christopher Schmidt-Nowara’s richly documented study shows how history became implicated in the struggles over empire. It also considers how these approaches to the past, whether intended to defend or to criticize colonial rule, called into being new postcolonial histories of empire and of nations.
About the Author
Christopher Schmidt-Nowara is associate professor of history at Fordham University. He is the author of Empire and Antislavery: Spain, Cuba, and Puerto Rico, 1833-1874 and coeditor, with John Nieto-Phillips, of Interpreting Spanish Colonialism: Empires, N
Reviews
Schmidt-Nowara's excellent and persuasively argued book pushes the limits of empire studies, particularly through the examination of nation-building outside of a nationalist context. Fundamentally, this is a study of the art of interpretation and a clear example of the ways that textual and discourse analysis are ideological arms in the battle for the control over recounting the past. This book is essential for anyone interested in empire studies, comparative colonial studies, or the literature and culture of the Spanish, Philippine, or Antillean nineteenth century. - Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies ""Schmidt-Nowara engagingly examines different ways Spanish intellectuals approached their country's colonial experience and the often antithetical arguments made by intellectuals in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Well written and documented, this study is valuable for historians of ideas and the writing of history, as well as historians of Spain and Spanish America. Highly recommended."" - Choice
Book Information
ISBN 9780822959908
Author Christopher Schmidt-Nowara
Format Paperback
Page Count 296
Imprint University of Pittsburgh Press
Publisher University of Pittsburgh Press
