City, modernity and postcard. A Comparative study of Santiago de Chile and Temuco at the beginning of the 20th century

By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the Chilean elite society are keen to develop a scope of a modern country, proud of its urban development and modernity, throughout using portrait as an image of new excellency: Photography, magazines, portrayed albums and, over all, postcards were commonly used to show images of modern cities at that time. Image of Photograph, magazines, portrait albums, and, over all, postcards were common used to show images of modern cities at that time. Plazas, parks, avenues, theaters, public buildings, and train stations were repeated topics used to represent civilized cities, modern, and prosperous nation. This research addresses how an urban representation was constructed from postcards by comparing two of case studies: Santiago de Chile and Temuco, this last one located on the territorial periphery by that time. The purpose is to analyze this type of imagery in order to assess a certain imaginary within the framework of the modernization process of the Chilean State”. © 2023 Universidad Complutense de Madrid. All rights reserved.