Kraay, HendrikKiddle, AmeliaBarrios Giraldo, David2021-09-212021-09-212021-09Barrios Giraldo, D. (2021). Avatars of memory. Rituals and commemorative practices in Colombia, 1864-1913 (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.http://hdl.handle.net/1880/113907This study shows how Antioquia elites re-imagined, through commemorations, their collective past and invented their region, as a symbolic appropriation of the space – the highlands – that they inhabited. The identity that emerged from that process was the basis on which Antioqueño elites negotiated hegemony with those of the national capital. Here I show for the first time how provincial institutions, town councils and local elites promoted cultural events that proclaimed the affirmation of a “historical region” and at the same time insisted upon their Colombianidad (Colombianness). Antioqueño elites saw regional history as the mean to emphasize their contribution to a common national identity dating back to the wars of independence. I argue in this dissertation, regional and local elites in Antioquia opposed the history that the Liberals in the capital wanted to impose, which presupposed the existence of a nation before the war of independence. In addition to having challenged the power of the capital through war, regional elites did not find in the nationalization of the anniversary of Bogota’s independence the idea of a stable community advancing towards the liberal utopia.engUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.Latin AmericaColombiaCivic RitualsCommemorationsEconomics--Historydoctoral thesis10.11575/PRISM/39224