Ortega y Gasset’s reception through political contingences

Abstract

This article aims at analysing a particular case within Spanish historiography: how the writings, speeches and public activities of one of the greatest intellectuals of this country, the philosopher José Ortega y Gasset, were perceived, discussed and studied by Spanish historians and scholars from the beginning of his exile onwards. Its goal is exclusively that of exhibiting, through a single but very significant case, the strong interdependence between historiographical activity and socio-political environment, between historiographical interpretations and political credos, both in the course and because of the long and pervasive influence of Franco’s dictatorship in Spain.

Keywords

• 20th century historiography
• Political history
• Intellectual history