20th century
A01=Nicola Miller
american history
ancient
ancient history
anthropology
archaeology
art
Author_Nicola Miller
biography
capitalism
Category=JBS
Category=NHK
classic
culture
economics
education
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
essays
european history
geography
gifts for history buffs
globalization
historical
historical books
history
history books
history buff gifts
history gifts
history lovers gifts
history teacher gifts
language
marxism
military
philosophy
political science
race
reference
revolution
school
social
socialism
society
sociology
translation
war
world history
Product details
- ISBN 9781859842058
- Weight: 562g
- Dimensions: 157 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 17 Nov 1999
- Publisher: Verso Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Carlos Fuentes once observed that to be a Spanish American intellectual was to fulfill the roles, by default, of "a tribune, a member of parliament, a labor leader, a journalist, a redeemer of his society." Such statements reflect the view that the region's intellectuals have often acted as substitutes for the structures of a civil society.
An alternative view casts Spanish American intellectuals in a far more reactionary role. Here, it is suggested that the elaboration of inert popular stereotypes such as the stoic Indian and the heroic gaucho has resulted in an infinite postponement of authentic cultural identity, and a perpetuation, aided by intellectuals, of a social order in which popular demands were either ignored or repressed.
In the context of this debate, this book explores the roles played by intellectuals in the creation of popular national identities in twentieth-century Spanish America, and seeks to identify the factors which lie behind two such contrasting evaluations of their contribution. Ranging across the intellectual centers of Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico and Peru, it illustrates vividly the diversity and evolution of intellectual life in the region. Particular attention is paid to the idea of peripheral modernity and its influence on intellectual activity, as well as to the contributions made by intellectuals to the three major strands in debates on popular national identity: bi-culturalism, anti-imperialism and history.
An alternative view casts Spanish American intellectuals in a far more reactionary role. Here, it is suggested that the elaboration of inert popular stereotypes such as the stoic Indian and the heroic gaucho has resulted in an infinite postponement of authentic cultural identity, and a perpetuation, aided by intellectuals, of a social order in which popular demands were either ignored or repressed.
In the context of this debate, this book explores the roles played by intellectuals in the creation of popular national identities in twentieth-century Spanish America, and seeks to identify the factors which lie behind two such contrasting evaluations of their contribution. Ranging across the intellectual centers of Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico and Peru, it illustrates vividly the diversity and evolution of intellectual life in the region. Particular attention is paid to the idea of peripheral modernity and its influence on intellectual activity, as well as to the contributions made by intellectuals to the three major strands in debates on popular national identity: bi-culturalism, anti-imperialism and history.
Nicola Miller is Lecturer in Latin American History at University College, London and an Associate Fellow of the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London. Her previous books include Soviet Relations with Latin America, 1959-1987, and, jointly edited with Maurice Biriotti, What Is an Author?
