HIST 270: Nations and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Latin America

John Chasteen

In his influential book, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism, Benedict Anderson argues that the creation of a dozen Latin American republics between 1810 and 1825 made nationalism a "modular" phenomenon, facilitating its application in the rest of the world. This "mass production" of Latin American nations clearly constituted an important moment in the development of modern nationalism. But many of Anderson's specific points about Latin American nationalism are questionable. This course will put Anderson's arguments to the test by surveying the emerging historical literature on the formative years of Latin American nationalism(s) and going beyond that literature to discuss various problems through direct engagement with primary source materials. Special attention will go to the crucial independence period itself and to the cultural construction of national identities in the nineteenth-century novel and in popular music and dance.