Ephemeral Architectures for Celebrating Happiness: Symbolic and Persuasive Values of an Archetypal Example

After more than half a century of war, the announcement of the end of the Third Carlist War resulted in a veritable explosion of happiness and collective euphoria in Spain at the end of the 19th century. On 20 March 1876, Alfonso XII, nicknamed “The Peacemaker”, made his triumphal entry into Madrid....

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Fernández Paradas, Antonio Rafael, Rodríguez Martín, Nuria
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/145930
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/145930
https://doi.org/10.12795/anduli.2023.i23.11
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:happiness
collective euphoria
festivities
ephemeral decorations
ephemeral architectures
peace
national identity
felicidad
euforia colectiva
fiestas
arquitecturas efímeras
paz
decoraciones efímeras
identidad nacional
Descripción
Sumario:After more than half a century of war, the announcement of the end of the Third Carlist War resulted in a veritable explosion of happiness and collective euphoria in Spain at the end of the 19th century. On 20 March 1876, Alfonso XII, nicknamed “The Peacemaker”, made his triumphal entry into Madrid. The press of the time described the event as one of the happiest in the history of Spain. The aim of this paper is two fold: to contextualize and analyze the importance of the festivities and ephemeral decorations as a reflection of the social happiness of the moment and to analyze the symbolic and persuasive values of one of the ephemeral architectures erected for the occasion. As a final result, we demonstrate how ephemeral architecture and festivals were a source of happiness in the battered Spanish society of the last third of the 19th century, generating social welfare and happiness through art and the nationalist exaltation of the monarchy.