Algunas lecturas francesas de las independencias hispanoamericanas
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2019-07-31
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Universidad EAFIT
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En este artículo, se analiza la documentación producida por autores franceses o afrancesados, en la cual América y sus procesos de independencia, en particular los hispanoamericanos, ocupan un lugar central. Se localiza un importante corpus documental que incluye libros e impresos periódicos. Algunos de ellos fueron de uso en las escuelas primarias y secundarias francesas, otros circularon entre académicos y profesores universitarios. También se analizan algunos textos provenientes de conmemoraciones americanistas, como discursos de legatarios o personalidades con prestigio político o científico, y textos literarios que concursaron en variados eventos vinculados con las celebraciones y conmemoraciones de la Independencia. A partir de ellos, se proponen cinco ejes de reflexión: primero, desde la perspectiva de las representaciones sociales, políticas y culturales de las independencias hispanoamericanas, donde las preocupaciones investigativas están orientadas a lo que se dice que pasó y menos a lo que pasó. Segundo, la reiteración de la categoría influencia para pensar las relaciones decimonónicas entre América y Francia subraya la originalidad de las ideas ilustradas y la Revolución Francesa; en cambio, las revoluciones hispanoamericanas representarían una de sus consecuencias más o menos distorsionada a este lado del Atlántico. Tercero, el lenguaje hermenéutico de lo que se dice que pasó instituyó mitos políticos modernos, asociados directamente con una revolución exitosa, igualitaria, libertaria y fraterna. Cuarto, en el contexto planetario de las dinámicas de modernización política, “lo francés” debe ser pensado como una parte de los procesos de mundialización de la modernidad. Quinto, el examen social y cultural de la producción intelectual presentada permite una mirada crítica a las historias nacionales (Francia, Colombia, España, México, etc.) o continentales (Europa, América, Latinoamérica, etc.), de tal forma que se puedan comprender mejor los procesos de modernización.
This paper analyzes documents produced by French or Frenchified authors, in which America and its independence processes, particularly Spanish-American processes, occupy center stage. An important documentary corpus was found including books and periodicals. Some of these materials were used in French primary and secondary schools, others circulated among scholars and university professors. Some texts from Americanist acts of commemoration are also analyzed, such as speeches by legatees or personalities with political or scientific prestige, as well as literary texts that competed in a variety of events related to Independence celebrations and acts of commemorations. Based on these documents, five lines of reflection are proposed. First, from the perspective of social, political and cultural representations of Spanish-American independence processes, the research interest is focused more on what is said to have happened and less on what actually happened. Second, the reiteration of the category of influence to approach the nineteenth-century relations between America and France highlights the originality of the Enlightenment ideas and the French Revolution; by contrast, the Spanish-American revolutions would represent one of its consequences, more or less distorted on this side of the Atlantic. Third, the hermeneutic language of what is said to have happened created modern political myths, directly linked with a successful, egalitarian, libertarian and fraternal revolution. Fourth, in the world context of political modernization dynamics, “the French” should be construed as a part of modernity globalization processes. Fifth, the social and cultural examination of the intellectual production considered here sheds a critical light on national (France, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, etc.) or continental (Europe, America, Latin America, etc.) histories, which allows modernization-related processes to be better understood.
This paper analyzes documents produced by French or Frenchified authors, in which America and its independence processes, particularly Spanish-American processes, occupy center stage. An important documentary corpus was found including books and periodicals. Some of these materials were used in French primary and secondary schools, others circulated among scholars and university professors. Some texts from Americanist acts of commemoration are also analyzed, such as speeches by legatees or personalities with political or scientific prestige, as well as literary texts that competed in a variety of events related to Independence celebrations and acts of commemorations. Based on these documents, five lines of reflection are proposed. First, from the perspective of social, political and cultural representations of Spanish-American independence processes, the research interest is focused more on what is said to have happened and less on what actually happened. Second, the reiteration of the category of influence to approach the nineteenth-century relations between America and France highlights the originality of the Enlightenment ideas and the French Revolution; by contrast, the Spanish-American revolutions would represent one of its consequences, more or less distorted on this side of the Atlantic. Third, the hermeneutic language of what is said to have happened created modern political myths, directly linked with a successful, egalitarian, libertarian and fraternal revolution. Fourth, in the world context of political modernization dynamics, “the French” should be construed as a part of modernity globalization processes. Fifth, the social and cultural examination of the intellectual production considered here sheds a critical light on national (France, Colombia, Spain, Mexico, etc.) or continental (Europe, America, Latin America, etc.) histories, which allows modernization-related processes to be better understood.