From “ignorant people who pretend to be knowledgeable” to chinas who “grab” newspapers: press Imaginaries in the Province of San Juan, Argentina (1825–1839)

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of the San Juan press during the 1820s and 1830s, in a context in which the province, recently separated from the Gobernación de Cuyo, was facing severe political instability and high levels of illiteracy. In this scenario, newspapers—published by literate sectors—functioned as tools of informal instruction. Through their pages, they promoted educational projects that linked instruction to the cultural and material progress of the province. From the intersection of the social history of education and periodical press studies, this work focuses on the analysis of two imaginaries constructed by these publications: on the one hand, the notion of “ignorant people,” used not only to refer to illiterate popular sectors but also as a pejorative label for political opponents who, although literate, were accused of lacking knowledge on various issues related to political organization and yet presented themselves to the public as “experts.” On the other hand, the depiction of a “reading china” in the 1839 issue of El Zonda, where the act of reading by an illiterate woman is represented in a caricatured manner. Both cases reveal how the press sought to reinforce the idea that education was an essential condition for the development of San Juan.