Spanish Jew or Hispanist? Abraham Z. López-Penha and the negotiation of Columbian, Pan-Hispanic, and Sephardic identity. Issue 4 (2nd October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Allard, Elisabeth Bolorinos
• Is Part Of: Jewish culture and history. Volume 20:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 281
• Page End: 296
• Publication Date: 2019-10-02
• Subjects: Abraham Z. López-Penha -- Sephardic Jews -- Philosephardism -- race -- Latin American cultural studies; Jews -- History -- Periodicals; Jews -- Social life and customs -- Periodicals; Judaism -- Customs and practices -- Periodicals; Jodendom; Jews; Jews -- Social life and customs; Judaism -- Customs and practices; History; Periodicals; 909.04924
• DOI: 10.1080/1462169X.2019.1658459
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1462-169X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article explores the negotiation of Sephardic, Columbian, and Hispanic identity in the writing and correspondence of Abraham Zacharías López-Penha (1865–1927), a Colombian writer of Sephardic Jewish Curaçaoan origin. Focusing on his most acclaimed work, El libro de las incoherencias (1909), it questions why, as a Columbian writer, López-Penha chooses to identify himself as a 'Spanish Jew', particularly in the context of his relationship with the founder of Spanish Philosephardism, Angel Pulido. It also questions how López-Penha's Sephardic identity fits within the discourse of Spanish-American hispanism, particularly its racial parameters.