Myth, history, and the origins of al-Andalus: a historiographical essay

This essay juxtaposes two recent efforts to demythologize the history of the origins of al-Andalus. Alejandro Garcia Sanjuan has called into question the continued usefulness of reconquista as a historical model, while Emilio Gonzalez Ferrin has gone further, challenging the very notion of an "Islamic conquest," which he regards as another misleading holdover from the past. Considering these two approaches side by side allows for a deeper appreciation of the challenges of demythologization in relation to the study of medieval Spanish history.