Anglo-Iberian Studies – Serie

British representations of Spain and Portugal have often relied on persistent ideological biases, prejudices, and interpretations. This volume aims to offer a broader, more nuanced outlook on the last five hundred years of Anglo-Iberian relations. The chapters focus on relatively little-known episodes and figures in Anglo-Iberian history and cover a wide temporal span: from the sixteenth to the mid-twentieth century. They aim to look beyond the clichéd dichotomies, received ideas, and normative voices that have often charac-terised mainstream studies. Ultimately, the book seeks to expose and transcend stereotyped narratives emphasising Anglo-Spanish acrimony and contribute to mutual understanding.

This book explores the connections that José Joaquín de Mora (1783–1864)established with Britain, where he was exiled from 1823 to 1826 and was toreturn as diplomat in the following decades. His admiration for the Britishmaterialised in a series of cultural transfers aimed at the promotion and diffusionof British culture in Spain and Spanish America. He contributed to thepopularization of Bentham’s utilitarianism, the principles of British classicaleconomy, and the philosophy of the Scottish School of Common Sense; hetranslated texts by Scott and Shakespeare and wrote an unfinished versionof Byron’s Don Juan; and, above all, he presented Britain as a model for thepolitical, economic, and literary regeneration of the Hispanic world.

With the main goal of contributing to a wider understanding of the presenceof Spanish literature and culture in British Romanticism, this book focuseson the instrumental role played by the British periodical press in theAnglo-Spanish literary and cultural exchange in the first half of the nineteenthcentury. All the chapters bear witness to the contrasting and variedperception of everything Spanish, the different strategies of exploration, appropriationand rewriting of its cultural and literary tradition. Besides, theyall reveal the intricate web of cultural, political and religious factors tingingthe discourse of British Romantic literary critics and authors on the Spanishcultural capital.