Uses of Convivencia and Filosefardismo in Spanish Legal Discourses

Abstract

References to convivencia displayed, and still perform, different functions in historical, political, and social discourses in Spain. The use of the concept popularized by Américo Castro, and others before him, was a reaction to a political and cultural context and had a political meaning as well. Therefore, these intellectual creations need to be contextualized and analyzed critically. My aim in this text is to analyze the uses of convivencia in legal and political discourses in 19^th and 20^th centuries as well as today.
In the following pages, I describe the historical trajectory of convivencia in Spain and its reflection within the legal and political culture as well as the nation-building process. I mostly focus on the representations of Sephardic Jews in contemporary Spain and the Middle Ages by the Spanish intellectual and political elites. Following suggestions made by David Nirenberg, I consider how the references to Jews and to Judaism affected Spanish society, how the Spanish »Jewish question« influenced legal and political thought, and shaped national identity in Spain. I analyze parliamentary discourses, legal texts, and other intellectual productions by the Spanish elites from the mid-19t^h century until today.