Abstract

Speaking of a ›Golden Age‹ or a Siglo de Oro in reference to Spanish history, culture and literature transforms an ancient myth into a historiographical concept, which seems rather problematical, even contradictory, and at the same time, seen in a wider European context, exceptional. Nevertheless, the Siglo de Oro is still being used not only as a key term in contemporary academic works – inside and outside Spain – on the Early Modern period, but also as a highly controversial idea in political and ideological debates, especially on behalf of what may or may not be Spanish identity.

This article seeks to give a brief overview of the discussions that try to define the concept of the Siglo de Oro and to present the literary canon as well as the ideological implications linked to it. Starting in the aftermath of the epoch itself, in other words the 18th century, it focuses on the convergence of the political and aesthetical discussions that oppose the ›Two Spains‹ during the 20th century in terms of how to choose and interpret their ›classics‹. Finally, it tries to give a (necessarily incomplete) view on the actual situation, where the Golden Age myth still interferes not only in literary but also in socio-political debates.