Ask the Experts: Spanish Studies and the Struggle for Authority

Traces the professionalization of Spanish-language education and the emergence of the academic discipline of Spanish Studies, against a background of economic and commercial investment in Spain. Provides a critical analysis of the early years of Spanish Studies and the determination of the first academics to transcend the discipline’s commercial origins. Recovers the works and legacy of scholars excluded from the academy whose contributions to Edwardian knowledge about have been largely forgotten.

The Anglo-Spanish Society in the interwar period

I study how the end of the Great War heralded a new stage in the history of the BSS. I analyse the Society’s double mission after the war. On the one hand, the BSS promoted British trade with Spanish-speaking countries. On the other hand, its members contributed to the development of Spanish language education in the UK. Finally, I explain why the BSS’ dissolution took place in 1939.

Epilogue

I defend that the history of the BSS is a perfect example of how cultural strategies have played a key role in foreign policy since the early 20th Century. Furthermore, I suggest that the BSS is a pioneer institution in the development of British-Spanish cultural relations. Finally, I argue that the BSS played an important role in the development of the Spanish language education in the UK.