The The sanctuaries of the homeland: The historical representations of Independence in Chilean museums

Abstract

The era of American emancipation constitutes a period where the brand-new republics begin to write their history, for which they create a series of mechanisms and devices that exalt epic and heroic representations under the ideology of the dominant groups. One of these institutions is the museum, which in Chile began to be sketched with sporadic projects and exhibitions throughout the nineteenth century, but which took definitive form with the inaguration of the Museo Histórico Nacional in 1911, subsequently emerging diferent historical museums that to this day reproduce a patriotic imaginary. The purpose of this article is to identify, characterize and interpret the current exhibitions linked to independence in Chile (1810-1826) in five historical museums (Museo Histórico Nacional, Museo Histórico y Militar, Museo del Carmen de Maipú, Museo Marítimo Nacional and Museo Regional de Rancagua), exploring its origin, trajectory and projections. The research establishes that these museums, despite the reformulations in their scripts they have a common narrative that erects them as secular shrines where the fatherland and this heroes are workshipped. Historiographical views and critical museum exhibitions are also investigated, that stress the oficial narrative and allow a reflection that complicate the Independence process, the intepretative axis of the historical museum as a whole.