A bitter body that rants: the representation of the Homeland in the skies of Bartolomé Hidalgo

Abstract

This essay analyzes the configuration of the Latin-American "us", in a relation of tension and dialogue with the Spaniard "other", in the cielitos of Uruguayan poet Bartolomé Hidalgo (1788-1822). Since cielitos are compositions created during the independence period and are considered to be the first manifestations of gauchesca literature, Hidalgo's cielitos exhibit the symbolic representations created by Latin Americans not only to describe themselves but also their political adversary. When these representations appear, the cielito becomes pure violence to such a degree that the frontiers between human and animal disappear.