About this exhibit

In this exhibit, we look at three Anglo-Chilean newspapers while paying close attention to each of the distinctive elements that influence the press in other languages. At the same time, we aim to emphasize how each of our publications represents a crucial phase in the growth of the Anglophone press globally.

Thus the earliest paper in our collection, The English Mercury (1843-44) focuses on mercantile news. The second, the Valparaiso and West Coast Mail (1867-74), introduces local and international news as well as sections intended to appeal to a more diverse family readership as the Anglo-American colony grew and developed. The third, the The Star of Chile (1904-06) not only provides meaningful news focused on the by-now highly develop Anglo-American colony in Chile, but also demonstrates an increased level of hybridity: advertisements are often in Spanish or for Chilean (rather than British) firms; articles or headlines may include occasional Spanish words; and, by the end of the paper's run, entire pages may be printed entirely in Spanish. This growing linguistic diversity indicates either that the newspaper sought a readership beyond the English-speaking colony, that the colony itself was beginning to use more Spanish, or both.

Both the Valparaiso and West Coast Mail and the Star address audiences beyond Chile as well, seeking to share the host country's beauty and cultural diversity through drawings and photography as well as coverage of its arts and cultural life.