The Idea of an “Unwritten” History of the Way of St James in the Novels of Toti Martínez de Lezea

The historical novel has been a major factor in the popularity of portrayals of the Way of St James in contemporary cultural discourse. Usually set in the Middle Ages, these narratives have often helped to disseminate “alternative” views of the Jacobean pilgrimage, challenging the work of historians from ideological or identity-based perspectives. This article seeks to explore this phenomenon through two novels by the Basque writer Toti Martínez de Lezea. To do so, we begin by framing the issue within the context of so-called “neomedievalism”. We then present Martínez de Lezea as an author shaped by the idea of “committed literature” and explain how her novels on the Way of St James reflect this approach. Finally, we delve into the content of the novels to analyse how all of the above culminates in three intellectual operations: (1) the replacement of the past by the present, (2) the replacement of truth by ideology, and (3) the replacement of facts by emotion