Conciliatory celebrations and social appropriations: the case of the “Battle of Salta”

Abstract

This article contributes to the debates about the mechanisms of making the past and the processes of constructing identity and belonging. The contruction of the Salta’s elite and the “salteñidad” are addressed focusing on the evocations and appropriations of a foundational event in the history of Salta, considered as the first great contribution of this province to national history: the “Battle of Salta” (1813). Questioning this event by looking into its celebrations prompted a reflection about the relation between past and present in Salta and enabled an etnographic reconstitution of the processes that have granted particular senses and forms to this celebration linked to the construction of the “salteñidad”, as well as some configurations and reconfigurations of power and political arrangements in the province – exposing the interconnection between different scales and levels, scopes and spaces. This article presents and discusses the main axes, findings and conclusions from the investigation on the forms of celebration and social appropriation of this event beween the mid-19th century and the mid-20th century, taking the creation of “Club 20 de Febrero”, its dancing ball, the “official” celebrations of the event and its monumentalisation as developments, moments and spaces of analytical significance.