Narratives on the Margins of History: Memory and the Commemoration of the Moriscos

Abstract

This article explores the resonances of the Morisco past in present-day Spain and the connection between the commemoration of the 1609 expulsion and Spanish-Moroccan relations today. It looks at the different forms of remembering the 400 years since the Decree of Expulsion was issued, its critics, and how these public memory projects intersect with colonial narratives, before investigating how the conflicting pasts converge and are reinterpreted in current discussions about the place of Islam in Europe. By examining the claims about history and memory made by different actors reacting to the commemoration of Spain's expulsion of the Moriscos, the article shows how the Muslim subject is acknowledged as part of the country's historical past, yet is hardly accepted as part of Spanish society today.