Translation of: Simon Bolivar, Befreier Südamerikas. Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-146).
Contents:
Introduction : dimensions of the Bolívar myth -- Historical foundations : constructions of a nation. Elites without a nation or a myth ; Discourses of the nation, slave revolts, and caste society ; Caudillos and Bolívar revenants : nineteenth-century experiments with the state ; The conservative and the revolutionary Bolívar in the "Age of Extremes" -- Simón Bolívar : the man and the myth. The glorious Bolívar family ; In search of the ancestors ; The Bolívars' fortune ; The conservative-romantic Bolívar myth ; From the "Marxist" to the "Democratic" Bolívar and back -- Excursus : "Humboldt and Bolívar" : on a conversation that may never have taken place. Postscript, April 2012 -- Instead of a conclusion : the "Chavist Bolívar".
Summary:
"All over Latin America, and especially in the Venezuela of Hugo Chávez, Latin America's liberator, Simón Bolívar, is a political idol and symbol of that continent's new political self-confidence. The legends about him remain alive and have been the basis for numerous political speeches, plays, and fictional works. Michael Zeuske, one of the world's leading experts on Bolívar, examines the dimensions of the cult and myths surrounding Bolívar and compares these with the real historical person and the world in which he lived. Zeuske's account corrects major inaccuracies in the historical texts, such as the legendary meeting between Alexander von Humboldt and Bolívar, which never actually took place."--p. [4] of cover.
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