Against Cosmopolitanism Historic Preservation and the Construction of Argentinean Identity

Contemporary approaches to the study of cultural heritage emphasize its role as a symbol of cultural identity. The selection of objects that will constitute cultural heritage is inflected by ideological views and political power. This article presents how that process took place in Argentina, between 1910, the year of the celebration of the country's centennial, and 1940, when the National Commission of Museums and Historic Monuments and Sites, the main government body dealing with cultural heritage at a national level, was created. Under the influence of nationalist intellectuals, the designation of historic heritage in Argentina was conceived as a means of integrating a heterogeneous immigrant population into a newly created national cultural identity that celebrated individuals or events significant for the history of the country. This politically conservative project involved the pristine restoration of buildings that had been largely altered or even partially demolished, with the purpose of recovering tangible testimonies that expressed Argentinean identity.