L'«ossessione dello scheletro». Decadenza, boria ed egolatria nelle riflessioni di Ganivet, Unamuno e Ortega

The colonial defeat after the Hispanic-American war of 1898, a peculiar moment in the Spanish contemporary history, stimulated intellectuals of the time on a number of reflections on the so called "problema de España" and its national identity. During this timeframe a new scientific, artistic, and philosophic movement, renowned as "the '98 generation" saw the light, as it was dramatically evident that it was necessary to overcome of the traditional culture, that suffocated intellects and consciousness and that had imprisoned Spain in a cultural isolation. Its mission was to open the country to modernity and the questions it brought. This willingness to open to the outside world, to the "European winds", this Europeanisation that happened ahead of time, however, did not assume any kind of dissolution of the national identity but, on the contrary, it intended to bring back its authenticity.This brought, at the start of the century, to a complex confrontation between the claims of the national traditions and popular authenticity on one side, and the openness to the external influences, on the other side. The present assay will specifically linger on the significant opinions shared by Ángel Ganivet, Miguel de Unamuno and José Ortega y Gasset.