Semillas que no germinan. Los iberismos y la superación de la decadencia peninsular en el siglo XIX
abstract
The construction of Iberian nationalism in the nineteenth century began with an awareness of the decadence and the peripheral space occupied by Iberian States in an international context. The idea of decline and its response as a program of national regeneration cut across all modern political cultures. In this article we will analyse the role that this dialectic plays in the projection of Iberian political and cultural expectations. The extensive Iberian literature confirms an omnipresence of the notion of decadence throughout the nineteenth century and the search for regeneration mechanisms through the confluence of Iberian nationalities. Overcoming the crisis would go through a double chronological axis: 1. Projection of the future towards and Iberian union or federation. 2. Restitution of an original peninsula community divided by dynastic conflicts but not by cultural patterns or national essences.
Keywords: Nationalism • Regeneration • Decadence • Iberian Peninsula • Iberianism