Rhetorical Conflicts: Civilizational Discourse and the Contested Patrimonies of Spain’s Festivals of Moors and Christians

The title of this essay identifies a series of verbal scuffles—or “rhetorical conflicts”—that developed in the fall of 2006 within Spain’s larger culture wars. The political skirmishes coalesced around an announcement by the Popular Party (PP) to champion a class of regional festivals for U.N. desig...

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Main Author: David A. Shefferman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2014-02-01
Series:Religions
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/5/1/126
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author David A. Shefferman
author_facet David A. Shefferman
author_sort David A. Shefferman
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description The title of this essay identifies a series of verbal scuffles—or “rhetorical conflicts”—that developed in the fall of 2006 within Spain’s larger culture wars. The political skirmishes coalesced around an announcement by the Popular Party (PP) to champion a class of regional festivals for U.N. designation as indispensible elements of “human patrimony.” The war of words stemmed from the PP’s politicization of cultural designations, but the celebrations in question—the fiestas of Moors and Christians common in the south of Valencia region—already generated controversy since they display “rhetorical conflicts” of a different sort: In potentially offensive fashion, the festivals present carnivalesque re-enactments of battles in the medieval “Reconquest” of Iberia by Christian armies over Islamic “Moors.” The essay situates these entangled controversies in the broader context of waves of immigration that have accompanied, or even fueled, a trans-Atlantic discourse centered on notions of a geopolitical “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West. Accordingly, the debates about the Moors and Christians festivals—like the celebrations themselves—reveal deep ambivalence about the role of Islam and of Muslims in Spain’s past and present.
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spelling doaj.art-8402e81c264d4462b03b8188508df9d32022-12-21T17:57:11ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442014-02-015112615610.3390/rel5010126rel5010126Rhetorical Conflicts: Civilizational Discourse and the Contested Patrimonies of Spain’s Festivals of Moors and ChristiansDavid A. Shefferman0Department of Religious Studies, Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY 10805, NY, USAThe title of this essay identifies a series of verbal scuffles—or “rhetorical conflicts”—that developed in the fall of 2006 within Spain’s larger culture wars. The political skirmishes coalesced around an announcement by the Popular Party (PP) to champion a class of regional festivals for U.N. designation as indispensible elements of “human patrimony.” The war of words stemmed from the PP’s politicization of cultural designations, but the celebrations in question—the fiestas of Moors and Christians common in the south of Valencia region—already generated controversy since they display “rhetorical conflicts” of a different sort: In potentially offensive fashion, the festivals present carnivalesque re-enactments of battles in the medieval “Reconquest” of Iberia by Christian armies over Islamic “Moors.” The essay situates these entangled controversies in the broader context of waves of immigration that have accompanied, or even fueled, a trans-Atlantic discourse centered on notions of a geopolitical “clash of civilizations” between Islam and the West. Accordingly, the debates about the Moors and Christians festivals—like the celebrations themselves—reveal deep ambivalence about the role of Islam and of Muslims in Spain’s past and present.http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/5/1/126Festivals of Moors and ChristiansHeritage of HumanityUNESCOSpainMuslims‘culture wars’‘clash of civilizations’
spellingShingle David A. Shefferman
Rhetorical Conflicts: Civilizational Discourse and the Contested Patrimonies of Spain’s Festivals of Moors and Christians
Religions
Festivals of Moors and Christians
Heritage of Humanity
UNESCO
Spain
Muslims
‘culture wars’
‘clash of civilizations’
title Rhetorical Conflicts: Civilizational Discourse and the Contested Patrimonies of Spain’s Festivals of Moors and Christians
title_full Rhetorical Conflicts: Civilizational Discourse and the Contested Patrimonies of Spain’s Festivals of Moors and Christians
title_fullStr Rhetorical Conflicts: Civilizational Discourse and the Contested Patrimonies of Spain’s Festivals of Moors and Christians
title_full_unstemmed Rhetorical Conflicts: Civilizational Discourse and the Contested Patrimonies of Spain’s Festivals of Moors and Christians
title_short Rhetorical Conflicts: Civilizational Discourse and the Contested Patrimonies of Spain’s Festivals of Moors and Christians
title_sort rhetorical conflicts civilizational discourse and the contested patrimonies of spain s festivals of moors and christians
topic Festivals of Moors and Christians
Heritage of Humanity
UNESCO
Spain
Muslims
‘culture wars’
‘clash of civilizations’
url http://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/5/1/126
work_keys_str_mv AT davidashefferman rhetoricalconflictscivilizationaldiscourseandthecontestedpatrimoniesofspainsfestivalsofmoorsandchristians