THE CONSTRUCTION OF PROTONATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE VIRREINAL AMERICA: THE CASE OF MARIANA DE JESÚS IN QUITO

Abstract

The nation is a cultural construction of the eighteenth century. However, the identity of modern nations has its origin in the older imaginary. This study aims to describe the relevance of religious discourse in the formation of the Ecuadorian nation. Through discourse analysis, this article details the case of Santa Mariana de Jesús in Quito. It compares it with two other cases of Latin American cities, whose protonation identity was formed in the vice-regal stage. Which was based on a local religious cult, for example, Mexico and the Virgin from Guadalupe, Lima, and Santa Rosa. The study concludes that the origins of the modern nation are in the Christianized culture of the Middle Ages and that the modern Latin American nation is based on an imaginary fueled by religious discourse with strong political implications.