Cervantes como salvador de la nación: Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo, crisis nacional y las políticas de identidad nacional en España, 1880–1905

Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo played a decisive role in the commemoration of the tercen-tenary of the publication of the first part of Don Quijote in 1905. These commemorative acts allowed the creation of a discourse of adhesion to an idea of national identity, a dis¬course in which various social groups and individuals took part. This essay will analyse the contribution of Menéndez Pelayo to the project of commemoration in connection to his comments on national literature, especially those about Miguel de Cervantes.