Constructing Childhood: Place, Space and Nation in Argentina, 1880-1955

Authors

Melissa Malone, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

History

First Advisor's Name

Rebecca Friedman

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Noble David Cook

Second Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Ricardo Salvatore

Third Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Patricia Price

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Keywords

Argentina, Childhood, Space, Nation, Children's Geographies, Play, Education, Hygiene, Buenos Aires, Urban History

Date of Defense

7-1-2015

Abstract

During the vastly transformative stages of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, notions of the urban and definitions of childhood mutually intersected to create and define a modern Argentine landscape. The construction of new urban environments for children defined and reflected larger liberal elites’ definitions of childhood writ large. To better understand the production of this modern childhood in Argentina, this dissertation examines its other through the spatial-discourses behind constructions of childhood for the socio-economic lower classes - children who largely did not meet the expectations of the elite.

I employ the use of both published and archival sources, from 1880 to 1955, providing textual analyses of the language of reformers – primarily state and municipal authorities, pedagogues, hygienists, philanthropists and urban planners – alongside spatial analyses of the built environment, including kindergartens, playgrounds, and open-air schools within the city of Buenos Aires, as well as a healthcare facility and themed park in the province of Buenos Aires. Urban intellectuals, educators and overall reformers increasingly considered play as paramount to children’s physical and psychological development, focusing on where children played, how they played and what their play meant. Childhood became a contested ideological space, constructed and negotiated alongside notions of Argentine national identity. By moving beyond textual analyses of professionals’ discourses, this dissertation not only contributes to our understanding of Argentine childhood, but also points to ways in which the built environment embodies modern notions of childhood.

Identifier

FIDC000128

Recommended Citation

Malone, Melissa, "Constructing Childhood: Place, Space and Nation in Argentina, 1880-1955" (2015). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2173.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2173