The Allure of Modernity: Afro-Uruguayan Press, Black Internationalism, and Mass Entertainment (1928–1948)

Abstract

This article explores the ways in which the Afro-Uruguayan press forged an internationalist agenda between the 1920s and the 1940s, the most active and radical period in the history of the Afro-Uruguayan movement. While previous scholarship has focused on the literary exchanges and political causes that created networks of Black internationalism, this article proposes that the world of mass entertainment played a key role in shaping a sense of belonging to the larger African diaspora. By focusing on La Vanguardia (1928–1929) and Nuestra Raza (1933–1948), the essay examines how Afro-Uruguayan intellectuals negotiated their symbolic relationship with the African diaspora and disputed the meaning of Blackness through their relationship with new forms of urban entertainment that arose during the first half of the century – the performing arts, cinema, illustrated press, and sports. Thus, the article proposes that the Afro-Uruguayan press harnessed the allure of the emergent entertainment culture to situate Blackness at the core of modernity, challenging the historical place that the Uruguayan state offered to its Black population.