¨1714¨ and Catalan identity
This paper examines the consequences of defeat for national histories. It does so by using the case study of Catalan identity and analyses how the defeat of 1714 at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession was used in plays, in mnemonic sites such as statues and street names as well as teaching material. It also draws on representations of the defeat in caricatures and art works. Furthermore, the centenaries of 1914 and 2014 will be used to examine how the narrative and symbolism of the defeat of 1714 was used by politicians during the National Day, the Diada.
This paper will thus flash out the significance of the political and cultural uses of historical memories of defeat for the definitions of Catalan nationhood, both at the beginning of the nationalist movement in the early twentieth century and more recently in the last ten years. It will examine how the narrative of the defeat of 1714 worked as a motor for Catalan nationalism to commemorate the ¨Glorious Past¨ prior to the defeat, to gain international solidarity and to strive for national regeneration.
By analysing the different ways in which the defeat of 1714 and even more generally ‘national shame’ and ‘downfall’ was used in Catalan nationalist narratives, the paper also gives the possibility for comparisons to other historic cases.
Joana Duyster Borreda finished her PhD in History at the University of Oxford in March 2020. Her research examined how international contacts and geopolitical factors contributed to the various definitions of Catalan nationhood in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. From 2013-2015, she worked as a research and teaching fellow at the History Faculty of the University of Heidelberg. Since April 2020 she is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen.