On Conspicuous Memoirs from the XIX Century: The Case of Ramón Subercaseaux Vi

Abstract

This article proposes the reading of a “conspicuous” kind of memoir whose authors belong to the minority elite in Chilean society. The most leading figure in this group at the end of XIX and the beginning of XX century was Ramón Subercaseaux Vicuña, a diplomat, congressman, painter and famous voyager. Some typical strategies for this kind of testimony are analyzed around significant places: childhood, family and social network in the country and abroad with a social class control center: Paris, along with aristocratic excess such as politics, elections, and those of the lower social class always kept in distance.