La identidad nacional durante la Guerra del Paraguay

representaciones, lenguajes políticos y conceptos en el diario La Nación Argentina (1862-1870)

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess from a historical viewpoint the impact of the Paraguayan War in the process of construction of Argentine national identity. We focus on the analysis of concepts and representations in the Mitrist newspaper La Nación Argentina. The chronological structure of our work allows us to examine two convergent processes: the impact of war on language and the trajectory of the newspaper itself. Firstly, we deal with the topic of neutrality – central in the beginning of the war – and the reasons to justify the alliance with Brazil. The central issue of our article is the analysis of the representations of Argentine identity in a context of pronvincial resistances. We deal with the image of Paraguay and its discussions with other opponents in the internal political debate.