Miguel de Unamuno and Bilbao: the melancholic experience of Modernity

This article argues that the experience of modernity is melancholic, which means that the modern world, by effect of the transformations that accompany it, loses its meaning and can no longer be experienced. To illustrate this point of view, the work of Unamuno regarding Bilbao from the paradigm of the history of emotions is explored. It is part of a particular concept of melancholy that emphasizes its ability to make a diagnosis of the world through the body and, in the case of the Unamunian melancholy, had as its main objective the loss of the old Bilbao.