Abstract

BAEZA, Brígida. BORDER/S AND MEMOR(Y)/IES: THE COYHAIQUIE AND TREVELIN "PIONEERS". Intersecciones antropol. [online]. 2009, vol.10, n.2, pp.203-219. ISSN 1850-373X.

This article analyzes the past and present characteristics of the construction of cultural identities related to the idea of memory in the communities of Coyhaique, Chile, and Trevelin, Argentina, located in the Chilean-Argentinian border in Central Patagonia. Once the border between Chile and Argentina was formally delimited at the beginning of the twentieth century, the State´s agents began the task of nationalizing border populations, characterized by their heterogeneity and the absence of "national" representatives. This paper examines how the dilemma regarding the definition of which groups should be considered carriers and representatives of nationality in Coyhaique and Trevelin was "solved". Changes and continuities related to collective memory construction about founders/"pioneers" and the way in which they interact with other social groups and the state agency of each community are studied through the analysis of anniversary celebrations. The article provides elements for the analysis of the current dynamic of identity processes in Central Patagonia from a comparative perspective that includes the Chilean and the Argentinean sides of the border.

Keywords : Borders; Identities; Memories; Anniversaries.

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