The language in the construction of the uruguayan national identity in Juan Zorrilla de San Martín: nación hispánica and nación subtropical atlántica

Authors

  • Mariela Oroño Universidad de la República

Abstract

In this paper I study the sociolinguistic representations in press articles, conferences and discourses of the Uruguayan writer Juan Zorrilla de San Martín (1855-1931), a prominent intellectual of the generation of 80 in Uruguay and cultural referent of the nationality, written in the State construction period in the late Nineteenth century. In his speeches he was concerned to create a national character that would differentiate Uruguay from Spain and the rest of the Spanish-American countries, but without losing the ties and the Hispanic identity. In particular I study two nationalist representations that appear in their speeches with the denominations Hispanic nation and Atlantic subtropical nation.

Keywords:

Uruguay, Juan Zorrilla de San Martín, sociolinguistic representations, national identity