Exaltación del mestizo: La invención del roto Chileno

Abstract

This article examines the process of transformation of the roto, a Chilean personage of urban origin, into a national symbol of chileanity. As a descendent of Spaniards and Natives, the metis (half-breed) was rejected in the Nineteenth century in the light of racial theories that were current at that time. However, at the beginning of the Twentieth century it seemed that intellectuals discovered the metis qualities, and tried to raise their status to that of a national symbol.