Abstract

VILLEGAS, Álvaro. The valley of the Magdalena River in written texts from the second half of the 19th century: territory, illness and work. Folios [online]. 2014, n.39, pp.149-159. ISSN 0123-4870.

For nineteenth-century Colombian scholars, their homeland was diverse, where areas which were limits and conditions of the possibility of 'civilisation' could be found. The basin of the Magdalena River was one of these spaces. By revising a collection of works, this article describes and interprets how scholars devised a representation of this region which emphasised the lushness of the area, which led to national participation in the global market through the agricultural exportation of tropical products, while bringing with it the development of lifestyles out of state control, such as regional populations. The case of the boga is illustrative - they were described as immune to the own needs of human beings. It is thus possible to conclude that the speeches about the area highlighted the distinctive nature of this geographical area, permanently marked by its distinctiveness in terms of both space and population.

Keywords : Basin of the Magdalena River; nation; territory; illness; work.

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