From Americanism to nationalism: the Chilean war discourse during the Pacific War (1879-1884)

War is an occasion conducive to the formation and propagation of discursive constructs that generate social unity and identity. This article highlights Chilean war discourse during the nineteenth century, which legitimized the War of the Pacific. The aim is to underscore the principal features of war discourse within the prevailing discursive context. The hypothesis is that there is a nationalist discourse that emphasizes cultural and ethnic elements which justified armed conflict. The source material studied here is essentially comprised of national newspaper and tabloid articles. The conclusion is that nationalist political language during that time was basically constituted inarticulately as a result of the presence of a rather diverse and decentralized public sphere