Mariquita Sánchez como corresponsal: los costos reproductivos de la guerra

Abstract

This article focuses on Mariquita Sánchez’s epistolary writing that directly references the internal and transnational wars of nineteenth-century Argentina. First, I will examine the way in which her highly political writing, offers an intimate, quotidian perspective on military events. One of the rhetorical strategies I will focus on is the constant use of the passive voice to refer to informal circuits of information. On the other hand, her correspondence reveals a vision of war and patriotism sustained by the importance of motherhood as a discursive device, since it places special emphasis on the human and material costs of the war. I argue that Sánchez positions war as the impediment of the country’s progress, using the topic to criticize male incompetence in the management of the national project, while positioning herself as a “true patriot”. By doing so, she develops a defense of motherhood, and advocates for female education as a civilizing vehicle.