Contacts, Collisions and Relationships: Britons and Chileans in the Independence era, 1806-1831

This is a study of the relations between Britain and Chile during the Spanish American independence era (1806â"1831). These relations were characterised by a dynamic, unpredictable, and changing nature, imperialism being only one and not the exclusive way to define them. The book explores how Britons and Chileans perceived each other from the perspective of cultural history, considering the consequences of these âcultural encountersâ for the subsequent nationâ"state building process in Chile. From 1806 to 1831 both British and Chilean âstateâ and ânonâ"stateâ actors interacted across several different âcontact zonesâ, and thereby configured this relationship in multiple ways. Although the extensive presence of ânonâ"stateâ actors (missionaries, seamen, educators and merchants) was a manifestation of the âexpansionâ of British interests to Chile, they were not necessarily an expression of any British imperial policy. There were multiple attitudes, perceptions, representations and discourses by Chileans on the role played by Britain in the world, which changed depending on the circumstances. Likewise, for Britons, Chile was represented in multiple ways, the image of Chile acting as a pathway to other markets and destinations being the most remarkable. All these had repercussions in the early nationâ"building process in Chile. A study of the relations between Britain and Chile during the Spanish American independence era (1806â"1831). It focuses on the dynamic, unpredictable and changing nature of cultural encounters to cast doubt on the assumption that imperialism was their obvious outcome and to understand further nation-building processes. Andrà s Baeza Ruz is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Institute of History, Pontificia Universidad Catà lica de Chile.…