Buenos Aires journals during the 1898 war. La Biblioteca, La Ilustración Sud-Americana y Revista de Derecho, Historia y Letras, between the «throbbing issue» and identities crossroads

Abstract

During the 1898 war between Spain and the United States caused by the last Spanish colonial possessions, Buenos Aires became the setting of different initiatives related to the war, such as conferences and mobilizations. The significant Spanish immigration in the city encouraged these events. In turn, the cultural circles and groups were the milieu of dissertations on the meaning of the war for the Argentine and Latin American public and intellectual life. The new questions about the geopolitical order that would appear after the war promoted new ways and forms of intellectual reflection in Latin America. Personalities from different latitudes proposed interpretations and analysis that shaped identity repertoires, such as Latino Americanism,
Spanish- Americanism, and Latin American Anti-imperialism. Considering these events and ways of intellectual intervention, this article analyses how the episodes of 1898 war were covered by some journals published in Buenos Aires. It analyses La Biblioteca (1896-1898), La Ilustración Sud-Americana (1892-1917), Revista de Derecho, Historia y Letras. The main purpose is to show how these publications intervened in this context and how they managed the identity repertoires.