Spanish Colonization as a Cultural Trauma: Legitimation of the Traumatic Event in the Spanish Press

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17072/2073-6681-2024-3-5-14

Keywords:

cultural trauma; traumatic event; legitimation; media representation; Spanish colonization.

Abstract

The article examines the process of legitimation of the conquest in the Spanish mass media political discourse. The study appears to be relevant due to the recent intensification of controversy surrounding the justification of Spanish colonization, as well as the process of delegitimization of this historical event in the Latin American media. The scientific novelty of the paper lies in that it provides an analysis of cultural traumatization and legitimation as interconnected sociological processes that are linguistically represented in the Spanish political media discourse. The study is carried out on the basis of written and oral discourse of Spanish politicians and public figures legitimizing this traumatic event. In the course of the work, it was established that the process of legitimation of the conquest is most clearly manifested at the stage of theorization of the object of legitimation aiming to objectify its adequacy and is implemented through the strategy of moral assessment and the substrategy of analogy: the unpleasant facts of Aztec imperialism are described, there are references to the British, Arab and Dutch conquests, the expediency of which is not questioned by society. Where the Conquest is rationalized with the use of a predictive substrategy and a result-oriented substrategy, there are indicated potential negative consequences of the absence of Spanish conquest as well as the benefits of civilization that appeared in the conquered territory after the arrival of the colonizers. At the promotion stage, a strategy of appeal to authority is implemented – there are presented opinions of authoritative political and public figures and historical figures legitimizing the conquest and denying all accusations as well as the need to apologize to the former colonies. At the stage of final rooting, the conquest becomes a habitual social context.

Author Biography

Yulia A. Gornostaeva, Siberian Federal University

Associate Professor in the Department of Germanic and Romance Languages and Applied Linguistics

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Alexander J. C. Culture trauma, morality and solidarity: The social construction of ‘Holocaust’ and other mass murders. Thesis Eleven: SAGE Journals, 2016, vol. 132(1), pp. 3–16. (In Eng.)

Barrera C. La prensa española ante la designación de Don Juan Carlos como sucesor de Franco a título de rey. Communication & Society, 1994, vol. 7, issue 1, pp. 93–109. (In Sp.)

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Eyerman R. Cultural Trauma: Slavery and the Formation of African Identity. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001. 316 p. (In Eng.)

Johnson C., Dowd T. J., Ridgeway C. L. Legitimacy as a social process. Annual Review of Sociology, 2006, vol. 32, pp. 53–78. (In Eng.)

Leeuwen T. Discourse and Practice: New Tools for Critical Discourse Analysis. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008. 184 p. (In Eng.)

Montero L. El día más difícil del rey. Discursos de legitimación monárquica desde la ficción televisiva. Revista de Historia Actual, 2015, vol. 12, pp. 43–50. (In Sp.)

Screti F. Defending joy against the popular revolution: Legitimation and delegitimation through songs. Critical Discourse Studies, 2013, vol. 10(2), pp. 205–222. (In Eng.)

Smelser N. J. Psychological trauma and cultural trauma. A Cultural Trauma and Collective Identity. California, University of California Press, 2004, pp. 31–59. (In Eng.)

Suchman M. C. Managing legitimacy: Strategic and institutional approaches. Academy of Management Revue, 1995, vol. 20(3), pp. 571–610. (In Eng.)

Sztompka P. Cultural trauma: The other face of social change. The European Journal of Social

Theory, 2000, vol. 3(4), pp. 449–466. (In Eng.)

Tolbert P. S., Zucker L. G. The institutionalization of institutional theory. Handbook of Organization Studies, 1996, pp. 175–190. (In Eng.)

Vaara E., Tienari J. A discursive perspective on legitimation strategies in multinational corporations. Academy of Management Review, 2008, vol. 33, pp. 985–993. (In Eng.)

Zugasti R. La prensa de la transición como cómplice de Juan Carlos I: el ejemplo de la legitimidad franquista de la Monarquía. Espacio, Tiempo y Forma. Serie V: Historia Contemporánea, 2006, vol. 18, pp. 299–319. (In Sp.)

Published

2024-10-16

How to Cite

Gornostaeva Ю. А. (2024). Spanish Colonization as a Cultural Trauma: Legitimation of the Traumatic Event in the Spanish Press . Perm University Herald. Russian and Foreign Philology, 16(3). https://doi.org/10.17072/2073-6681-2024-3-5-14

Issue

Section

LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY