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The
Historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians h ...
of
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
is composed of the works of the authors that have written about the
History of Argentina The history of Argentina can be divided into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time or early history (up to the sixteenth century), the colonial period (1536–1809), the period of nation-building (1810–1880), and the history of modern Argenti ...
. The first historiographical works are usually considered to be those by
Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre Martínez (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of unified Argentina. Mitre is known as the most versatile s ...
and other authors from the middle 19th century.


History

The pre-Columbian indigenous populations of Argentina did not develop
writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
, and had no written records of events. There have been written records of events since the time of the first European arrivals to Argentine territory, but most of them were referred to ongoing events or very close ones and are not considered to be real historiographical works. The first authors to write about events long past were the members of the ''"'37 Generation"'', romantic authors born by the time of the
May Revolution The May Revolution ( es, Revolución de Mayo) was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the terri ...
, who were educated in the time of the unitarian government of
Bernardino Rivadavia Bernardino de la Trinidad González Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first President of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, from February 8, 1826 to June 27, 1827. He was educated at ...
. By that time they received a
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
education and shared studies with students from other provinces, which promoted in them a national view over a localist one. At first they tried to act as an enlightened influence beyond the unitarian-federalist dichotomy, but the increased strengthening of the policies of
Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Although ...
made most of them flee into exile to foreign countries. Thus, those authors are considered with care, as they were distant enough from the events of the
Argentine War of Independence The Argentine War of Independence ( es, Guerra de Independencia de Argentina, links=no) was a secessionist civil war fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín ...
but still contemporary of the
Argentine Civil War The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place through the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Initiation concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1820), the conflict p ...
and the government of Rosas, making their opinions about the later to be of a political nature. Those authors tried to adapt the European
Romantic nationalism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...
to the Argentine context, and develop a national identity. As they despised both Rosas and the Spanish heritage, they aimed their efforts in glorifying the events and peoples of the Revolution. One of the first works done for this purpose was ''
Historia de Belgrano y de la Independencia Argentina ''Historia de Belgrano y de la Independencia Argentina'' ( en, italic=yes, History of Belgrano and Argentine Independence) is an Argentine history book written by Bartolomé Mitre. It is mainly a biography of Manuel Belgrano, but the author expan ...
'' ( es, History of Belgrano and of the Independence of Argentina), by
Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre Martínez (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of unified Argentina. Mitre is known as the most versatile s ...
. This book was criticized by
Vicente Fidel López Vicente Fidel López (April 24, 1815 in Buenos Aires – August 30, 1903) was an Argentine historian, lawyer and politician. He was the son of writer and politician Vicente López y Planes. Biography He studied at the school of Moral Sciences wit ...
, Dalmacio Vélez Sársfield or Juan Bautista Alberdi, who would wrote other books in answer, and Mitre would reply with more books strengthening his perspectives. Rómulo Carbia described this dispute in 1925 as a dispute between "philosophists" and "erudits", with Vicente López, Lucio López and José Manuel Estrada in the first group and Mitre, Luis Domínguez, Paul Groussac the new historical school and Carbia himself. Such book was used for self-affiliation and legitimization, but became canonical afterwards.Devoto, p. 14-15


1910

The first centennial of the May Revolution was a period of transition. Three new concerns were added to the historiographical view: the social, political and national issue: * Social issues were motivated by the massive immigration wave of the time and the rise of leftist, socialist and anarchist movements; and influenced a bigger concern about the role of society itself in the events of history, which so far had been described around key figures. * The national issue was the need to define, in a time when the majority of the population was foreign immigrants, the identity of the country and its role in the world. * The political concern derives from the fact that none of the historians from this periods works exclusively in the historiographical fields, and had steady political works at the same time. Despite keeping a rigorous scientific approach, their works were marked by their political views: when
Ramos Mejía Ramos Mejía is a Town in La Matanza Partido, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The town has an area of and a population of 98,547. The city is one of the largest commercial districts in the Western Zone of Greater Buenos Aires. History The la ...
rote about the popular participation and how it led to either the May Revolution or the tyranny of Rosas, he was indirectly pointing his opinions about popular participation in his own context. This period ends by 1920, with the creation of the
New Historical School New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...
. Historiography would take two main divergent paths since then. On one side, the state would sponsor
Ricardo Levene Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portug ...
and the
National Academy of History The National Academy of the History of Venezuela is an institution dedicated to the study and promotion of the history of Venezuela. Specifically, the objective is the collection of bibliographic, newspaper, audiovisual or other documentation to l ...
into writing a definitive and unquestionable version of national history, which follows the most important basic features of the one designed by Mitre and was deemed as "official history" because of its state-sponsored nature. The opposing viewpoint was held by a number of revisionist authors, who wrote the history of Argentina from a
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
and anti-liberalist perspective. Those authors restored the image of
Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Although ...
, rejected by previous authors, considering him an example of defense of national sovereignty. Former national heroes like
Bernardino Rivadavia Bernardino de la Trinidad González Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first President of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, from February 8, 1826 to June 27, 1827. He was educated at ...
,
Justo José de Urquiza Justo José de Urquiza y García (; October 18, 1801 – April 11, 1870) was an Argentine general and politician who served as president of the Argentine Confederation from 1854 to 1860. Life Justo José de Urquiza y García was bo ...
,
Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre Martínez (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of unified Argentina. Mitre is known as the most versatile s ...
and
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (; born Domingo Faustino Fidel Valentín Sarmiento y Albarracín; 15 February 1811 – 11 September 1888) was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the second President of Argentina. His writing s ...
were accused instead of favoring foreign imperialism. The concepts about the revolutionary period, on the other hand, weren't modified very much, and
José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...
was exalted as strongly as by their historiographical adversaries.


See also

* Historiography#Latin America *
History of Argentina The history of Argentina can be divided into four main parts: the pre-Columbian time or early history (up to the sixteenth century), the colonial period (1536–1809), the period of nation-building (1810–1880), and the history of modern Argenti ...
*
Historiography of Juan Manuel de Rosas The historiography of Juan Manuel de Rosas is highly controversial. Most Argentine historians take an approach either for or against him, a dispute that has influenced much of the entire historiography of Argentina.Félix Luna, "Con Rosas o contra ...


References


Further reading

* Goebel, Michael. ''Argentina's Partisan Past: Nationalism and the politics of history'' (Liverpool University Press, 2011)
online review
* Leonard, Thomas M. "United States-Latin American Relations: Recent Historiography." ''Journal of Third World Studies'' 16.2 (1999): 163-79.


In Spanish

* Adamovsky, Ezequiel, Andrés Bisso, and Gabriel Di Meglio. "Mesa de Debate:“¿Hay nuevos relatos históricos para la Argentina actual?”." ''Sociohistórica'' (2012)
online
* Azzolini, Nicolás. "Democracia, sufragio universal e yrigoyenismo. Un ensayo sobre la historiografía y la historia política argentina de principios del siglo XX." ''Prohistoria'' 22 (2014) pp107–126. * * {{cite book , title= Historia de la Historiografía Argentina , last= Devoto , first= Fernando , authorlink= Fernando Devoto , author2=Nora Pagano , year= 2009 , publisher= Sudamericana , location= Buenos Aires , isbn= 978-950-07-3076-1 * Molina, Eugenia. "Relatos sobre los orígenes de la nación. Un balance historiográfico de la producción argentina sobre el proceso revolucionario desde el Bicentenario." ''Iberoamericana '' 12.46 (2012): 185-203
online
* Tato, María Inés. "La Gran Guerra en la historiografía argentina. Balance y perspectivas de investigación." ''Iberoamericana'' 14.53 (2014): 91-101. covers World War I era. Argentine culture