The Hero Monument: The statue to Juan Santamaría as a piece in construction of the liberal imaginary

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José Andrés Díaz-González

Abstract

Juan Santamaría is Costa Rica's most representative national hero: his action of burning the Mesón at the Battle of Rivas at the cost of his own life is the act of courage par excellence in the Costa Rican imaginary. This action led to its immortalization in bronze and its consecration in the pantheon of national heroes.


It is not the purpose of this document to enter into the discussion about the existence or not of Juan Santamaría or what his role was during the Campaign of 1856 against filibusters; rather, it seeks to outline the process of building the heroic figure of that character, the motives for it and the meaning that has been given to it in the process of building the imaginary driven by Costa Rican liberals at the end of the nineteenth century.

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How to Cite
Díaz-GonzálezJ. (2020). The Hero Monument: The statue to Juan Santamaría as a piece in construction of the liberal imaginary. Acta Académica, 46(Mayo), 227-240. Retrieved from http://201.196.25.14/index.php/actas/article/view/337
Section
Acta Histórica

References

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