THE EMERGENCE OF CANARIAN NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS
The research of the origins and the construction of a historical-mythical past and present in the construction of nationalism is present in the Canarian nationalist movements, which always claim a biological continuity between the pre-colonial and the current Canarian population. In order to understand how Canary nationalism came into historical being, in what ways its meaning has changed over time, and why, today, it commands such profound emotional legitimacy (Anderson 1983, 4), it is fundamental to look at the sociocultural context of that particular time and space. The Canarian national consciousness started to emerge during the years of the Franco dictatorship which was organized around a centralist model of the state. Especially the strong state bureaucracy and the promotion of a spanish national identity triggered Canarians to ask themselves how decisions taken in Madrid could affect Canarian Islands. In fact, Canarians used to always have a kind of autonomous form of government. During Franco dictatorship they started to feel invaded by peninsular administrators and started to feel the need to organize themselves as Canarians. As Wimmer says “state institutions are in a privileged position to make their preferred
…show more content…
For instance, the Canarian newspaper El Día on April 17th 2016 reported the following article: “Guanches: past and future Canarias”. In the article the necessity of protecting and diffusing the heritage of the ancestors, especially in the educational system, is presented. From the colonial age, the respect for the memory of the Guanches was always more forgotten, and remembering it is the key for Canarians’ future (El Día