The Fall of Al-Andalus and the Evolution of its Memory in Modern Arab-Muslim Historiography

ABSTRACT:This article explores the Fall of al-Andalus and its use in the development of its memory in modern Arab-Muslim historiography. After its final demise in 1492, Andalusia gradually disappeared from Arab-Muslim collective memory. As part of the Nahda, however, Al-Andalus’ memory began to figure prominently in Arabic literary and public discourse. Using a wide array of literary works and political statements, this paper revisits and broadens the scope of investigations began by Christina Civantos, Mikaela Rogozen-Soltar and Alejandro García-Sanjuán. It shows how contemporary crisis and sense of inferiority some Muslims and Arabs have felt vis a vis Western Europe and North America (“the West”) in modern times, the Palestine Question and recent conflicts, the Iran-Iraq War, civil wars in Lebanon, Algeria, Syria, Yemen and Libya, initiated a multivariate re-interpretation of the role of al-Andalus in modern Arab-Muslim historiography between nostalgia for the past and the dream of an Arab-Muslim revival.