Transnational circulation of the press and the creation of national identities during the War of the Triple Alliance (1864-1870).

JOHANSSON, MARÍA LUCRECIA

Barcelona

Encuentro; V Encuentro de Jóvenes Investigadores en Historia Contemporánea.; 2015

Asociación de Historia Contemporánea y Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Paraguay was the scene of the bloodiest battle of South America. Between 1864 and 1870, Paraguayan forces clashed with the armies of the alliance formed by Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, in what became known as the War of the Triple Alliance. Guided by the idea that the creation of national identities should be studied from a transnational perspective, one might ask if national identities designed by journalistic war propaganda were built reclusively into each of the warring countries or, on the contrary, they were built reciprocally. In the latter case, what means allowed these exchanges or relationships? We believe that the analysis of the circulation of the press between the two sides, this time focusing on the journalistic exchanges between Argentina and Paraguay, opens a path that allows us to overcome the exceptional nature attributed to phenomena that have tended to be seen in isolation.The aim of this work is to study how the press propelled influences between the two sides, which served the government to outline new mutual images. We propose to crosslink the speeches of the Paraguayan and Argentine newspapers, as we believe that the pro-war arguments and representations of the enemies were reciprocally constructed from their interrelation.