Transnational South America: Experiences, Ideas, and Identities, 1860s–1900s

Abstract

Ori Preuss's book is a cultural history of international relations focused on the connections, shared spaces, and flows of Brazilian and Argentine intellectuals from the mid-nineteenth century to the beginnings of the twentieth. Preuss studies the complex dynamic of competitiveness and cooperation between these countries' elites through “diverse transnational activities such as translation, travel, public visits and conferences, the print press, cultural diplomacy, and intertextuality” (p. 7).Transnational South America emerged from Preuss's previous work Bridging the Island: Brazilians' Views of Spanish America and Themselves, 1865–1912, which claimed that Brazilians' constructions of national self-identity and of Spanish America were interwoven (p. 156). In his recent book, however, Preuss attempts to go beyond analyzing the construction of the self against the Other in order to argue that national and regional elite identities form through what he denominates “transnational practices.” Preuss traces how Argentinean and Brazilian elites shaped each other and constructed shared identities during the second half of the nineteenth century. He studies the trajectories (both physical and intellectual) of figures such as Joaquim Nabuco, Rui Barbosa, José Maria da Silva Paranhos, Eduardo Prado, Quintino Bocaiuva, José Mármol, Francisco Otaviano, Vicente Quesada, Carlos Guido y Spano, and Estanislao Zeballos.The book's main contribution is its invitation to move beyond the nation-state as a main unit of analysis and the limited focus on relationships with Europe and the United States as the main axis of cultural exchange in the historiography of identities in nineteenth-century Latin America. Preuss convincingly argues that Southern Cone regional powers (mostly Argentina and Brazil) constantly oscillated between cooperation and competition amid a general increase in transnational interaction. Through a very impressive use of primary sources, Preuss reminds us of the need to explore and recognize Brazil's role in the construction of international dynamics during the second half of the nineteenth century. Yet he falls short in the use and application of critical concepts for studies of nineteenth-century Latin America in his own analysis. For instance, some readers might be uncomfortable with his use of the terms “center” and “periphery” to describe the region's political and intellectual dynamics (e.g., “peripheral elites,” “peripheral version of the age of high imperialism” [p. 3]). The use of these terms, at least when it comes to intellectual history, has been criticized since they disavow the fact that knowledge is woven from connections between diverse centers and actors against a backdrop of complex political and economic realities. Indeed, since the 1980s narratives that recognize Latin Americans' active role in shaping knowledge have become more notable within the history of science, and something similar could be expected of the cultural history of international relations. This should not be taken to mean, however, that Transnational South America disregards the importance of connections. The point is that Preuss's work, inspired by histoire croisée, should be more critical in using this and other concepts, such as “creole consciousness” and “transnationalism.”Although it is true that Liliana Obregón (cited by the author on page 5) uses the term “creole consciousness” for Latin American regionalism in the history of international law, this concept—which has also been criticized—has been mostly employed by scholars interested in the formation of national or regional identities during the age of revolutions (from the 1770s to the 1830s). Preuss's work would have benefited from engaging with this literature and from offering the reader a deeper understanding of this concept, which is still essential for the study of late nineteenth-century elites. The book would have also profited from an in-depth exploration of the recent literature on the complex process of state formation and nation building, which has argued against the idea that “the Latin American state preceded the nation” (pp. 1–2).Undoubtedly, the most challenging concept in Preuss's work is transnationalism. Practices, spaces, interactions, crossings, activities, intellectual exchanges, and visions—to name just a few—are often characterized as transnational. Preuss provides the reader with clear examples of “transnational” processes, such as his analysis of Joaquim Nabuco's Um estadista do império. Preuss shows us that Nabuco was aware of Argentina's crucial role in the region's future and intentionally pointed out “the entangled nature of Argentine and Brazilian history” (p. 59). Although Nabuco's approach was state-centered, according to Preuss, the process that the statesman described was transnational, “a process that did not only transform one or two of the national sides involved, but also resulted in the emergence of something new beyond the level of the state” (p. 60). Evidently, this is the core of the book's argument. It grants historians of Latin America's international relations a different vantage point, beyond the nation and the state. But it also leaves the reader wondering how the transnational as a concept adds to our understandings of historical phenomena.The book certainly sheds new light on the history of international relations in the region. It will be useful for students interested in the intellectual history of the Southern Cone but also for those concerned with the role of translation practices and international relations in the construction of collective identities in the region and in cultural diplomacy.

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