Carmen Aranegui, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Valencia, will participate today Thursday, 18 April, in the Claustre Obert debates with the conference 'The cultural and the national. The Iberians, archeology and identity ', after her latest book 'The Iberians yesterday and today. Archeology and culture' (Editorial Marcial Pons). The talk will be held in the Aula Magna of the Cultural Centre La Nau, at 18:30. Access is free and can be followed live on the University TV (http://mediauni.uv.es/tv).
Archaeology plays a key role in building the identity paradigm. Who and how is the sense of belonging built in a globalized world? Are more attracted to what is ours? Can we simultaneously belong to multiple cultures? These are some of the issues raised by Aranegui and which reflect the conference on Thursday. The discussion will be presented by Antonio Vizcaino, researcher in the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Valencia, and moderated by the Vice-Principal for Culture and Equality at the University of Valencia, Antonio Arino.
In NAU XXI, the university think tank of the Vice President for Gender and Culture at the University of Valencia (http://nauxxi.uv.es) and as a prelude to the debate, you can find a series of papers on the subject: the first pages of the book by Carmen Aranegui, a report on this subject conducted by the pofessor expressly for this university's online discussion platform and some of her contributions in media.
In 'The Iberians yesterday and today. Archeology and culture ', Aranegui proposes a plural reading of Iberian cultures. The cultures of the Iberians have attracted the interest of historians and archaeologists since the late nineteenth century, when they were linked to the sense of belonging to the Spanish, with multiple meanings, reflections and conclusions. The research underlying this book refer to the multifaceted process that led to the Iberian Cultures and multiculturalism in general.
Contemporary Iberian archaeology has multiplied exponentially its file on sculptural, pictorial, epigraphic and numismatic file, and has endeavored to treat advanced methods not so much to invent an identity but to present a structured society, the first in the peninsula.
In this book Professor Aranegui wants to inform the public of the contents (historiography, epigraphy, landscape, land use, cemeteries, shrines, art ...) that are the basis to describe the multifaceted process that resulted in the Iberian Cultures, in plural. In some cases, the archaeological habitat itself becomes the argument in favor of a particular proposal, in others, it is a monument, shrine or treasure of gold, subject to revision from postcolonial positions that advocate in favor of a ethnic imaginary plurality of elements, however, transverse.
In the course of time, essentialist identity considered Iberians historical ancestors of all Spaniards or part thereof, but this approach is now at a dead end in professional forums. According to the author "that Iberian 'whole' was invented by the Romans on the basis of pre-existing cultural affinities and distinguishable from others". Like almost everything established by the Romans, explains Professor Aranegui, "the Iberian ethnonym has been under consideration and study since the eighteenth century, often questioning regardless of when and how it was coined and, especially in the first half of twentieth century, with racist connotations. "
In the approach of this work, to invent a state of affairs better suited to the interpretation of the Iberian past, a work in which not only has Aranegui put effort but also conviction and passion.
Last update: 18 de april de 2013 08:00.
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