The Telegraph as a Symbol for Innovation
From the 1840s until the 1860s, Paraguay was known to be as the most emerging and innovative economy of South America. Under the reign of President Carlos Antonio Lopez, there were several projects that placed Paraguay ahead of its surrounding countries. Some of these projects involved the inauguration of the first railway of South America, the push to send Paraguayan scholars to study in European Universities, and the creation of the first Telegraph in South America. However, in 1964 Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina allied against Paraguay and the Triple Alliance War began. This was a catastrophic event for Paraguay, given that there was a complete destruction of the population and multiple infrastructures, which eliminated the positive growth outlook it had in its future years. In this analysis paper, I want to explore the effects the creation of the telegraph had in placing Paraguay as an innovation and technological hub, but also how this method of communication was used during the times of war that followed. Finally, I want to analyze the effects of the destruction of the telegraph lines in regards to the flipped perspective on Paraguay by the time the war ended. However, I do believe that I cannot fit that much content in 5 pages, so if I were to choose any of these topics, I would like to focus on the importance it was given at time of development and progress [TBD].
Guarani: The Spanish Translation of A Phonetic Language into a Latin Alphabet
The Guarani language is one of the only surviving native languages in South America. It is so frequently used that, without Guarani, you can’t understand half of conversation between two Paraguayans. It is the only native language that is taught in school and spoken by people of all social classes. One of the components that make these teachings possible is the fact that there was an alphabet created around a phonetic language. For this paper however, I would like to explore the agendas and the process behind the translation of Guarani into the latin script. Given that the Guaranies did not have a written version of their alphabet, it was only during the 1600s, the times of the Spanish conquest, that the church developed a latin alphabet that would represent the Guarani language. Of course, this was under the agenda of spreading the Catholic religion and providing the natives with catechism education in their local language. However, they created a very specific dialect called “Missionary Guarani”, that was eliminated after the expulsion of the missionaries in 1767. For this essay, I would like to explore the process of decision to create an alphabet and the levels of adoption from the natives. If I get the time and enough resources, I would also like to keep exploring the development of this alphabet, the agendas around it, and the impact it had on the natives perception of their own language.
Resources (Both PDFs):