In 1810, José María Blanco emigrated to England after having actively participated in the liberal attempt at political regeneration of the Spanish nation during the Peninsular War (1808-1814). However, in his first years in Great Britain, his doubts about the possibility of radically transforming the national character of his compatriots grew. The Spanish character, influenced by centuries of despotism and Catholic education, in accordance with an imaginary of the Mediterranean South that was already hegemonic in Europe at that time, seemed incompatible with the "modern self" that Blanco seemed to recognize among his new Protestant neighbors. He also projected these doubts onto himself. Could José María Blanco become Mr. White, or had the Catholic upbringing he had received left marks on his body and mind that were impossible to erase? José María Blanco White actively reflected on all these issues through his private correspondence, autobiographical writings such as Examination of Blanco by White (1819), and his successful Letters from Spain (1823), which earned him literary acclaim throughout Great Britain. Through these private and public writings, Blanco White was also trying to construct himself as the "modern self" he longed for. At the same time, he was engaging with imaginaries about Northern and Southern Europe that were being rearticulated by romantic nationalism.

Xavier Andreu Miralles (University of Valencia) has specialized in the study of the cultural history of 19th century politics. In particular, he has analyzed the transnational dimension of the Spanish national-building process of that century, highlighting the influence on that process of the romantic imaginary about the Iberian Peninsula. Likewise, he has explored how 19th century Spanish nationalism was articulated from the various political cultures of the period and in relation to other collective identities such as gender. Currently, he is researching the relationship between music, emotions and politics in the construction of the political subjectivities in the Spanish Liberal Revolution.

Xavier Andreu Miralles is the author of El descubrimiento de España. Mito romántico e identidad nacional (Taurus, 2016) and España o la hija de un jornalero. Ayguals de Izco y el primer republicanismo (Marcial Pons, 2021), as well as editor of Vivir la nación. Nuevos debates sobre el nacionalismo español (Comares, 2019), El imperio en casa. Género, raza y nación en la España contemporánea (Sílex, 2023) and, together with Mònica Bolufer, European Modernity and the Passionate South. Gender and Nation in Spain and Italy in the Long 19th Century (Brill, 2022).