The press as a historical source: the imaginary of the nineteenth century in relation to progress, instruction and popularization of science

The press, seen from a historic point of view, is considered a valuable source of information because it allows, through discourse analysis, to rebuild and understand different ideas about the world, perceptions of reality and collective imaginaries of an epoch and a specific society. This article d...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Terán Fuentes, Aurora
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2014
Country:México
Institution:UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE AGUASCALIENTES
Repository:Caleidoscopio
Language:Spanish
OAI Identifier:oai:revistas.uaa.mx:article/517
Online Access:https://revistas.uaa.mx/index.php/caleidoscopio/article/view/517
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:press as a historical source
progress
scientific propaganda
popularization of science
nineteenth century press
prensa como fuente histórica
progreso
propaganda científica
vulgarización de la ciencia
prensa del siglo XIX
Description
Summary:The press, seen from a historic point of view, is considered a valuable source of information because it allows, through discourse analysis, to rebuild and understand different ideas about the world, perceptions of reality and collective imaginaries of an epoch and a specific society. This article discusses the philosophy of progress in the nineteenth century and how, through Aguascalientes’s newspapers, it became a relevant topic that had to be treated by public opinion. In the newspapers that were analyzed it was clear that there was a tight relationship between the idea of progress based on scientific education (positivism) and public education. Based on this, various newspapers from the second half of the nineteenth century had a clear focus on publishing scientific propaganda with the aim to educate the community in an informal way.