The international publishers, Peter Lang has recently published the volume Conversaciones sobre Historia, Lengua y Literatura en español. Encuentros entre el Mediterráneo y el Adriático, a collective work contributed to by Xavier Baró and Jordi Bermejo, lecturers in the Faculty of Humanities at UIC Barcelona.

Dr Xavier Baró, co-editor of the book, is the author of one of the studies included in the volume. His contribution examines the image of the Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal (Atatürk) as disseminated in socialist Albania, analysing the processes of ideological construction and political representation in the context of the twentieth century.

Dr Jordi Bermejo, vice-dean of the Faculty of Humanities, contributes a study focused on the moral and political reception and use of figures from ancient Rome – such as Mucius Scaevola, Viriathus, or Mark Antony and Cleopatra – in late seventeenth-century Spanish theatre, highlighting the exemplary function of classical antiquity in Baroque culture.

The volume includes a foreword by Albanian writer Ornela Vorpsi and brings together 24 studies that explore the richness of Hispanic culture from a broader Mediterranean perspective, drawing on disciplines such as literature, translation, history and cultural studies. The authors, from countries including Spain, Albania and Türkiye, reflect on the cultural intersections between the western and eastern Mediterranean, with the aim of moving beyond a strictly Western European perspective.

The book offers a renewed approach to European identity, integrating voices and perspectives that transcend geographical and disciplinary boundaries, and stands out as a significant contribution to the field of the humanities and social sciences.