Talking to his excellency: contentious political dialogues at the Lira Popular

Authors

  • Tomás Cornejo C. Doctor en Historia, Investigador Escuela de Historia, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales e Historia, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago

Abstract

The Lira Popular developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries a particular form of political poetry, known as counterpoints. These were a vehicle for generating a discursive position and affirming the popular sectors rights to have a word in the public sphere. The conversational nature of these compositions symbolically faced Chilean subordinate classes with presidents of the period, and its analysis allows us to know how they conceived political activity, social order and authority, as well as the logic that led to criticize and challenge them.

Keywords:

Lira Popular, politics, counterpoints, urban popular culture, broadside literature, International Labour Office, International Red Union, Latin American Labor Congress