The Legacy of the Filibuster War

National Identity and Collective Memory in Central America

Marco Cabrera Geserick

The Legacy of the Filibuster War: National Identity and Collective Memory in Central America analyzes the development of the Filibuster War as a symbol of Costa Rican national identity and presents several challenges to traditional theories of modernization and the creation of nationalism. By focusing on the development of cultural features defined by the transformation of collective memory, Marco Cabrera Geserick argues that national identity is a dynamic process defined according to local, national, and international contexts. Modernization theories connect the creation of symbols of official nationalism with the period of consolidation of the nation-state, yet the Filibuster War started its rise to Costa Rican national identity years later. Cabrera Geserick analyzes the threats to sovereignty and imperialist advances that served to promote the memory of the Filibuster War, while local social transformations—such as the abolition of the army, the rise of popular forces, and internal political conflict—have continued to force drastic changes on the interpretation of the war.

Lexington Books

Pages: 176 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9

978-1-4985-5981-2 • Hardback • June 2019 • $95.00 • (£73.00)

978-1-4985-5982-9 • eBook • June 2019 • $90.00 • (£69.00)

Subjects: History / Latin America / Central America

The Legacy of the Filibuster War

National Identity and Collective Memory in Central America

Hardback

eBook

Summary

The Legacy of the Filibuster War: National Identity and Collective Memory in Central America analyzes the development of the Filibuster War as a symbol of Costa Rican national identity and presents several challenges to traditional theories of modernization and the creation of nationalism. By focusing on the development of cultural features defined by the transformation of collective memory, Marco Cabrera Geserick argues that national identity is a dynamic process defined according to local, national, and international contexts. Modernization theories connect the creation of symbols of official nationalism with the period of consolidation of the nation-state, yet the Filibuster War started its rise to Costa Rican national identity years later. Cabrera Geserick analyzes the threats to sovereignty and imperialist advances that served to promote the memory of the Filibuster War, while local social transformations—such as the abolition of the army, the rise of popular forces, and internal political conflict—have continued to force drastic changes on the interpretation of the war.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 176 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9

978-1-4985-5981-2 • Hardback • June 2019 • $95.00 • (£73.00)

978-1-4985-5982-9 • eBook • June 2019 • $90.00 • (£69.00)

Subjects: History / Latin America / Central America

Author

Marco Cabrera Geserick is assistant professor at Gustavus Adolphus College.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Fighting for May 1st: Rise, Fall, and Return of the Memory of the Filibuster War

Chapter 2: The Alajuelato and the Rise of Liberalism: May 1st versus Santamaria

Chapter 3: The Return of the Filibuster Myth and Cultural Anti-Imperialism: Consolidation of the Memory of the Filibuster War in Twentieth-Century Costa Rica

Chapter 4: Santa Rosa, or Failing on Inventing Traditions

Chapter 5: Celebrating the Avenging Torch: Perceptions of a Military Hero in a Country without Army

Reviews

The Legacy of the Filibuster War: National Identity and Collective Memory in Central America deals with the political uses of the memory of the Costa Rican army's victory in the 1856-57 war. The goal of the book is to contribute to the debate begun a few decades ago. Specialists in the field of nation-state building, national identity, and nationalism, as well as historians in general, will find this book useful.

— Hispanic American Historical Review