Las Nociones de fray Manuel Arellano. El discurso geográfico como acto de resistencia

Resumen

As a discipline, Geography has been sometimes defined as ‘the science of the world’. It not only deals with the description of the Earth, but, half-way between the hard and the social sciences, Geography is also concerned with the peoples who share it out and exploit it. The history of this discipline is one of political and ideological pressures, where we have seen it at times seeking self-legitimacy in convenient trends of thinking, or even turning into an instrument of colonial expansion. The Nociones de Geografía General, written by the Dominican friar Manuel de Arellano Remondo, provide valuable access to the way of thinking and the ideological complexion with which Spain entered the 20th century, which is the time of radical political restructuring, the period that witnesses the quick rise of the United States, and the confirmation of Spain’s decline.