The construction of national identity in the lira popular: The verses of Rosa Araneda

Rosa Araneda is one of the most important figures in Chilean popular poetry of the late XIX century. Her texts are representative of the popular verse of that time, for the diversity of themes and the respect for the structur al formality. The popular verse of the late XIX century finds expression in the context determined by the gradual legitimization of modernizing discou rse which emphasizes the role of the state, the lay-clerical rift, the reco nfiguration of the national identity and the glimmerings of the social ques tion. the verse configuration of the national identity is relevant consider ing the times of production, criss-crossed by such events as the 'Guerra de l Pacifico' and the Revolution of 1891. Inside the lyrical expression, the identity discourse is sustained not only by the institutions mentioned in t he conservative historiography, but in special, as the expression of existe nce by a people who share a common experience, who mix and conjugate patrio tic symbols and include them in an original repertory. To limit the compreh ension of the nation to the State-Nation construction process would make it impossible to explain the configurations of thr national identity in Rosa Araneda's poetical discourse. More productive would be the application of a structural historical position, which considers cultural identity as somet hing in constant process of construction, and not as a fixed set of common values, qualities and experiences.