Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo y sus relaciones con Italia

Resum

The thesis “Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo and his relationships with Italy” examines the presence of Italy in the life, in the Epistolary, in the writings and works of Menéndez Pelayo, and reconstructs the relationships of Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo with Italy in all its complexity. The research develops the study of the fields in which these relations can be found: the context, Italian as well as Spanish, which Menéndez Pelayo lived in; his journey to Italy; his correspondence with Italian authors; the presence of both Italian and Spanish works and authors related to Italy in his works; Menéndez Pelayo’s critical essays on Italian authors, and reversely the ones of these on his works. The thesis presents the figure of Menéndez Pelayo linking his biography to the context in which it developed, namely the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Spain, and examining how deep the Italian issues of his time, and particularly the Roman Question, affected him. The research goes deep into Menéndez Pelayo’s journey to Italy, examining its reasons, its development, and its results, pointing out mainly the bibliographical findings and the redaction of the Letters from Italy. The complex network of correspondents that Menéndez Pelayo had in Italy is reconstructed through his Epistolary, and the information transmitted in the letters is pointed out. The presence and impact of Italian authors, or Spanish authors related to Italy, in the main works or writings of Menéndez Pelayo are investigated. Additionally, the research analyzes his writings on his Italian contemporaries, as well as the ones they wrote on his figure and work. Finally the thesis depicts the wide spectrum of the relationships of Menéndez Pelayo with Italy, showing that his projection in this international ambit takes place mainly in the field of Hispanic and Classical Studies