Avatars of Memory. Rituals and Commemorative Practices in Colombia, 1864-1913

This study shows how Antioquia elites re-imagined, through commemorations, their collective past and invented their region, as a symbolic appropriation of the space – the highlands – that they inhabited. The identity that emerged from that process was the basis on which Antioqueño elites negotiated hegemony with those of the national capital. Here I show for the first time how provincial institutions, town councils and local elites promoted cultural events that proclaimed the affirmation of a “historical region” and at the same time insisted upon their Colombianidad (Colombianness). Antioqueño elites saw regional history as the mean to emphasize their contribution to a common national identity dating back to the wars of independence. I argue in this dissertation, regional and local elites in Antioquia opposed the history that the Liberals in the capital wanted to impose, which presupposed the existence of a nation before the war of independence. In addition to having challenged the power of the capital through war, regional elites did not find in the nationalization of the anniversary of Bogota’s independence the idea of a stable community advancing towards the liberal utopia.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Arts

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Barrios Giraldo, David

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Kraay, Hendrik
• Kiddle, Amelia

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Spangler, Jewel
• Garces Montes, Elizabeth
• Gobin, Anuradha
• Appelbaum, Nancy P.

• Latin America
• Colombia
• Civic Rituals
• Commemorations

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/39224

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/113907