Text and illustration in the Argentine narrative of the 19th Century

Abstract

After the publishing revolution that takes place in Europe in the field of illustrated editions, in the third decade of the nineteenth century, the Spanish-American novel also explores the possibilities of illustration, according to the technical means and the knowledge available in each of the regional contexts in which it is experienced. This essay focuses on the case of the illustrated Argentine narrative that, from 1870 and for two decades, gives an account of the military annexation of indigenous territories to the national geography. In particular, the essay analyzes the cases of Una excursión a los indios ranqueles, by Lucio V. Mansilla, in its editions of 1870 and 1890, and of Viaje al país de los Araucanos (1881) and Relmu, la reina de los pinares (1893), by Estanislao S. Zeballos.