American Indian Culture and Research Journal

The quincentenary of Columbus's arrival in America can be added to a long list of similar commemorations-among them, the bicentennial of the French Revolution, the bicentennial of Cook's arrival in Australia, and the bicentennial of American independence, all of which were organized by state governments in order to both assert a certain national identity and achieve international prestige and power. Although these commemorations celebrate historical events, they are concerned not with the past but rather with the present and the future. Governments in power promote and sponsor these celebrations, according to Chesneaux, to "ritualize the past and twist the collective memory to [thestate's] purposes." Thus history is used to legitimize a certain power structure, and, consequently, any dissent from the official version of the past is ignored. In this fashion, the Spanish government exploited Columbus's arrival in America in 1492 for the purposes of asserting, both in Spain and abroad, the unity of Spanish identity and Spain's new authority in a united Europe, in which Spain would act as a mediator between Europe and Latin America. This article focuses on the official discourse used by the government of Spain for the commemoration of the quincentenary of Columbus's arrival in America, which, I suggest, is best understood with reference to the domestic and foreign policies of the Spanish government, controlled by the Social-Democratic party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español, or P.S.O.E.). On one hand, the Spanish government was seeking to invent a national identity and create the illusion of a national unity by referring to a past event in which all Spaniards were supposedly involved. On the other hand, the government was trying to legitimize the integration of Spain into the Western world after thirty-six years of traumatic isolation (1939-75) and four centuries of darkness. Spain's goal was to become a leading member of the European community and a major player in the ongoing process of European integration. In 1992, Spain claimed its rightful role as a mediator between Europe and Latin America by appealing to history.