Notes for a historiography on nation and sexual difference

Abstract

This paper is an approach to the research conducted in the last few years on the nations
construction and the making of a sexual difference. The first part gives a worldwide panoramic
view of the International Meetings help in Europe and the USA as well as of the compilations
of essays, monographs and other publications on the subject. Its special features include its
interdisciplinary nature and concern for nonwestern countries, the importance of the historical
outlook, the cultural aspects and subjectivity, the consideration for a wealth of collective
identities and the emphasis on the interrelation between so disparate factors as may be the
race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class and state construction. The author further highlights
works that refer to the forging of historical discipline and the role of the gender in the same.
The second part of the paper deals, in detail, with studies carried out in Spain, which are
mainly focussed on the Basque Country and Catalonia. Despite their limited development,
these studies point out some of the international researchers' major concerns.