Russell P. Sebold, Grande de España

Abstract

The Hispanist Russell P. Sebold is remembered in this text. He was interested from his university years in the Spanish eighteenth century and in Spanish literature in general. He read a lot both to investigate and to rest, and delved into the authors of the nineteenth century, such as Pereda, Pardo Bazán or Valera, as well as Galdós and Palacio Valdés. He deeply analyzed the concepts of Romanticism and its roots in Spain and published Cadalso, el primer romántico europeo de España, proposing new ideas and another option to break the traditional dichotomy of Romanticism in Spain, banishing the belief that the Spanish did not overcome their past and they could not reinvent themselves. In short, Sebold looked at Spain with different eyes and knew how to provide greater data and research to Hispanism with his analysis and criticism.