Leiden University Student Repository

Álvarez García, Beatriz (2015)

Shaping Images of Identity in the News: The Battle of Cádiz (1625)

Master thesis | History (MA)

In 1625 an Anglo-Dutch fleet attacked the Spanish port of Cádiz. It was the main campaign of the 1624-1630 war between England and Spain. The event was widely recorded in different genres of Spanish and English news. How did this news contribute to shaping images of the enemy around specific concepts, such as nation and religion? By addressing the construction of the other, the news also contributed to the formation of images of self-identity. While the Spanish news mainly appealed to the Catholic religion, the English news appealed to a sense of Englishness. The battle of Cádiz and the news produced around it opened a public discussion about the responsibility for it. The news reflected the political tensions within both states and these debates contributed to the definition of a public sphere of discussion.

Spain

England

Seventeenth Century

News

Propaganda

Identities

Public Sphere

Author

Álvarez García, Beatriz

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Euroapeum MA in European History and Civilisation

Supervisors

Fagel, Raymond
Pattenden, Miles

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en