Panelists: 

This Spanish–Moroccan war, known in Spain as the War of Africa, was a colonial military operation that resulted in the surrender of the city of Tetouan. A political victory with no tangible gains, the African War formed part of a persuasive rhetoric and a stirring propaganda used by the Spanish government to heighten the national pride of the people. The patriotic delirium surrounding this war marks the beginnings —and also the death throes— of Spanish colonialism on Moroccan territory in modern times. Spain’s military intervention in Morocco inspired an abundant literature whose aim was to glorify the war. Professor Rueda examines one-act plays on the topic of the War of Africa to reveal how war was staged and orchestrated politically through theatrical and musical performance. Burlesque musical re-presentations of the War of Africa reinforce collective yet conflictive notions of national identity, still unresolved at the threshold of Modernity, while exposing Spain’s impracticable political aspirations to regain its lost colonial power and the nation’s hesitancy to refashion itself as a modern nation.