The Trienio liberal (1820-1823) in search of its origins: dreamlike fictions in the service of a political mythology

The Trienio constitucional, during which the absolutist king Ferdinand VII was forced to rule with a liberal government, was a crucial moment in Spanish history. It was in 1820 that, for the first time, the ideology that had emerged from Cadiz in 1812 was finally given the opportunity to be truly put into practice. But once in charge, the Liberals had to establish themselves as a major player on the national political scene, and change mentalities in the face of absolutist schemes that were well entrenched in people's minds. In this difficult task of establishing new political imaginaries, they used all possible channels: texts, images, ceremonies, symbols, etc. They also mobilized different legitimization strategies that alternate or combine depending on the time, the audience and the media. This article aims to explore one of the strategies used by the liberals of the Trienio -the staging of the genesis of liberalism -through one of the corpora appropriate to this putting into words and images of a myth of origins: dreamlike fictions. The reflection will be especially based on El Anteojo magico, o La vision de los dos palacios en el bosque (D.J.A.R., Oviedo, 1820); El Dos de mayo. Fragmento (in El Espectador, 2 May 1821); Mi sueno, o vision de un hombre libre (B... M..., Seville, 1821); Mi viaje a la luna o suenos politicos y morales. Primera insurreccion del pueblo de Airebi (in Diario constitucional de Palma, 11 and 12 May 1820) and Profecia de lo que se vera el dia 9 de julio de 1820 (Madrid, 1820).