Diana Galarreta-Aima, a native from Peru, received her Ph.D. in Early Modern Spanish Literature from the University of Virginia in 2015. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Spanish at James Madison University. She is currently working on a book project entitled “Returning to Spain: Life, Literature, and Captivity in Algiers and Turkey,” which studies the relationships between captivity and conversion narratives, and the most pressing issues of the sixteenth and seventeenth century: language, belonging, and community. She has published peer-review articles on Berber chronicles as bridges of contact and representations of rich material, human and cultural interchanges across the Early Modern Mediterranean societies.
How did the attitudes of other non-Morisco Spaniards change toward the Moriscos in the period from the fall of Granada to the expulsion?
Thanks so much for doing this AMA!
In Lineages of the Absolutist State, Perry Anderson makes a point of how devastating this was to the Aragonese economy. Elsewhere he also points out that on many issues, Aragon was able to function almost autonomously from central Castilian State authority.
Why didn't Aragonese landlords stop the expulsion, even if only out of pure self interest?
Could you comment on the differences and similarities between the expulsion of Moriscos and Jews from Spain? As I understand it, the expulsion of the Moriscos takes place later but were similar dynamics at work, especially vis a vis a "blood" based justification?
How did the economy of North Africa cope with the arrival of the moriscos?
Was there a strain on it from the arrival of essentially refugees or where the moriscos actually a net boost due to the arrival of new skilled workers?
What was the religious make-up of the moriscos? Were there any Christians expelled? How did they adjust to life in North Africa?
How did Spanish society react to the expulsion of people who were clearly of pure iberian decent but were muslim too? Was there a call to differentiate the two groups?
Were there attempts to rationalize the fact that many Christians converted to islam in large parts of the peninsula?
What are the ramifications of the expulsion on the peninsula up till now?
You talked about different outcomes for conversos and Moriscos who stayed, but what sort of different outcomes do you see for Muslims and Jews expelled from Spain? Were there many generations of Spanish-speaking Muslims? Because obvious Balkan, Anatolian, and North African Jews spoke Spanish in diaspora until the 20th (cf. Rey Romero's Spanish in the Bosphorus, for instance). The expelled Spanish Jews made quite an impact on the rising Ottoman Empire, but the Spanish Muslims don't seem to have had the same impact, at least as far as I've heard.
If you haven't seen it, I strongly recommend the documentary "Las Ultimas Palavras", which is about Judeo-Spanish in Turkey, and how it was spoken as the mother tongue for Turkish Jews until really the 1970's or so. My generation, the one 25-35, seem to be about the first to grow up without fluency in Judeo-Spanish and this film is about them. Since it's still being shown at festivals and the like, it's not online, so you'll have to contact the film maker to get a copy, unfortunately, but it's fascinating.
Lastly, you might know the literature on nationalism, but there was once a consensus that nationalism (the borders of the state should be congruent with the borders of the nation, more abstractly, the cultural unit should be congruent with the governance unit) dates to the modern period and the French Revolution. A couple of scholars—Leah Greenfeld, Anthony Marx, Philip Gorski—have been pushing this back into the earlier modern period. Anthony Marx's Faith in Nation because he finds the earliest parts of nationalism not in the expanding of French civic identity or Romantic German and Italian desires to bind all people together in one state, but in early modern expulsions: the expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain, of Huegenots from France, Catholics from England. Do you think it's fair to class this as perhaps the earliest layer of modern nationalism (as an -ism), or do you think there's something else going on?
Are there avenues towards Spanish citizenship by Morisco descendants today the way there are for converso descendants?
Thank you for being with us today!
Many discussions of colonialism in the New World trace the roots of the structure/justification of expansion to the Reconquista and colonization of the Canaries. I would like to know more about these long-term trends for selfish reasons related to my area of study, but unfortunately, my knowledge of Spanish cultures during this time is woefully poor.
How did notions of race/ethnicity/language/belonging develop in Spain during your period of expertise, and how did a notion of the "other" influence both individual and larger societal relationships with Moriscos? If not too far afield of your research, do you see any expansion/adaption of those ideas of "other" during the early stages of colonialism in the Americas? Do you have any suggestions for recommended reading?
Thank you for your time.
In the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Southern Spain was just a two hour ferry from Tangiers and commerce between the two communities seems common. After the expulsion, where there still regular commercial relations across the straight?
What are good, detailed books in English about the Morisco revolt?
What do you think of the Alatriste books? What do you think of the Alatriste character (and the other characters in the series)?
Was there a relationship between the 12 year truce with the Dutch and the expulsion of the Moriscos?
How many Moriscos were expelled from Spain, and how many stayed?
How much real authority did Juan of Austria have during the Morisco revolt? How do you assess his actions during the course of the revolt?
Did any great Siglo de Oro writers criticize the expulsion? Was this something that could get them in trouble with the Inquisition?
Could any Moriscos make it to the Spanish overseas colonies? How did the expulsion affect them?
Hi! Un español por aquí (a castilian one!) estudiante de Economía y amante de la Historia!
Here in Spain, we identify every muslim as "Moor" but we dont hate them as we did before. I mean, the "Moors" word was used in a "despective" way in Spain since Middle Age, "moro" or "moros" are how we pronounce that, but the fun fact is that nowdays we always use that word in a common way despite of our ancestors.
The question is: Do you think the religion is the strongest "tool" to rule/control the common people? I would say that actually yes. Spain has been so catholic and conservative (in a religion way) no matter the Dinasties (Habsburg/Anjou), and i tend to think that this could've been the reason (because of the utility of religion) of not-having a "liberal" king. What do you think? :)
The second one, pero la preguntaré en castellano! ¿Qué te llamó la atención o por qué elegiste estudiar sobre el pasado de España? ¿Alguna razón concreta? Un placer y encantado de que mi país o su historia os resulte apasionante como lo es para mí.
Un saludo y gracias por la atención! :D
This is one of my favorite subjects, and I have two questions if you are still answering them:
Do you have any information about Portuguese degredados who went to Brazil? How important were jewish and moorish exiles in the colonisation of Spanish and Portuguese Americas?
I loved reading Simon Wiesenthal's book about Columbus being somehow connected to New Christians and was disheartened when I found out the thesis is very questionable. Or is it? Anything interesting to be known about this, or with New Christians and the discoveries in general?
Did Moriscos face any reprisals for their apostasy from their Moorish kin who still adhered to Islam?