![]() One can - and should - appreciate one act and condemn the other. Gandhi defended an Indian minority and valued Africans as inferior during his stay in South Africa. The heroic guerrilla, Che Guevara, liberated Cuba from a hegemonic American dictatorship and led it to another where opponents were executed without trial. Thus, non-existent perfect figures are created, without doubts or mistakes. Being victims of myth, we tend to reflect life in a cartoon where we categorise humans who, by nature, had light and shadow, as "good" and "evil". Likewise, neglecting the other half is just as damaging. However, dismissing the achievements - if plausible - rejects the truth. Subtly, the honourable and courageous deeds of these heroes completely overshadow their worst moments. Without further ado, the complex historical and social process is reduced to a few factors. Juan Santamaría, Costa Rica's national hero, is a case in point: he has given the country a public holiday, at least five songs about his biography, three statues, a name for the airport and extensive debates about his myth, as well as the image of the Costa Rican, originally from the countryside, humble and willing to offer his life for the autonomous future of the nation. Finally, the questioning of the figure's own existence. Third, to have left a mark in art, literature, music or homonyms. Second, to have fought - or better still, to have sacrificed oneself - in some battle or conflict - hopefully for independence. First, belonging to the male sex - apart from Joan of Arc, official heroines can be counted on the fingers of one's hands. In addition to function, similarities can be detected in the criteria for application to the post of national hero, despite certain variations. It would not be out of place to detect in this an obvious cultural propaganda. They are presented as a Jesus of the homeland. Their main mission statement is to raise collective identity or an ideological message under an excess of emotional charge. It should be clear that these heroes transcend a decorative function to achieve meaning within a community. What is camouflaged in a collective personification ends up condemning us to the dangerous game of manipulating the truth. In El Cid, William Wallace, Simón Bolívar or - not to go too far - Gandhi, decorations are hidden and facts are eliminated which, in the end, end up idealising and valuing their persons as uncorrupted. The most obvious cases of mythification could be attributed to national heroes who are born out of the unanimity that considers them worthy of the almost messianic degree scroll. Among those traces that help us to understand the past, its incredible adventures and dubious events are one of the most fascinating obstacles of historiography: historical figures. History would not be the same without those "white lies" that we find among ancient archives and documents in dead languages. ![]() ![]() "When error becomes collective it acquires the force of a truth." The false myth of national heroes Paula Rodríguez Mora, student of the double Degree in History and Journalism, invites us to reflect on the mythologised figure of national heroes and the consequent work of critical reflection that they deserve. The American Experiment is Taking its Last Breaths of Life.The curve of utilitarianism and the peaks of solidarity.The cannibalistic as an anti-capitalist method.Moving forward after the Covid-19 crisis.Not even the world's economic superpower could have seen this coming.Philosophy against the dominance of the trivial.Do you want to propose the next character?.
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