Jewish villains and Basque heroes: ethnic identities and national narratives in Francisco Navarro Villoslada’s "Amaya, o los vascos del siglo VIII"

This article examines the portrayal of Jewish characters in Francisco Navarro Villoslada's Amaya o los vascos en el siglo VIII (1879). The analysis includes a comparison of the Spanish novel with its literary model, Ivanhoe (1820) by Walter Scott. Both novels place Jewish protagonists at the centre of historical moments of emerging nationhood. By contrasting Amaya with Ivanhoe, the article explores the different role of Jewishness in this process. Whereas Scott stakes a claim for an English identity rooted in hybridity, the Spanish author struggles with the diversity of origins in Spanish society. There is a contradiction in the novel between its desire to seek the roots of Basque nationhood in early pagan myths and the author's vision of a unified Spanish identity rooted in Catholicism. The article suggests that the negative portrayal of the Jew in Amaya is an attempt to resolve this tension by use of the Other.

Publication year:2018

Keywords:A1 Journal article

Accessibility:Closed