ABSTRACT
The 1910 centennial of independence was an excuse for assertions of Argentine national greatness. Marked by mass gatherings and the visits of many foreign dignitaries, another notable feature was the remaking of urban space in the capital city, Buenos Aires. The self-proclaimed leaders of the French, British, German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, and Spanish communities took advantage of the occasion to assert a place for cultural pluralism in the national narrative. They commissioned monuments that stressed their contribution to the Argentine nation. Drawing from the symbols and text on the monuments, press coverage from the time, and publications produced by the immigrants involved in making these monuments, this chapter highlights how immigrants not only participated in a foundational moment of Argentine nationalism but also carved out a place for cultural pluralism. In pushing for a certain elite image of ethnic communities in the urban landscape of Buenos Aires, affluent immigrants participated in making the myth of a European and white Argentina.
