Análisis del vestuario de Manuela Sáenz como discurso de poder en el contexto sociopolítico de la Gran Colombia

Abstract

This research, entitled "Analysis of Manuela Sáenz's Clothing as a Discourse of Power in the Sociopolitical Context of Gran Colombia," studies Manuela Sáenz's attire to understand her role within the Latin American republican process of the 19th century. The study sought to establish political, social, and cultural meanings. Furthermore, it identified that traditional historiography has devoted little attention to clothing as a tool for constructing political identities. The figure of Manuela Sáenz has frequently been approached from a romantic perspective, relegating to the background the study of her visual representation and the strategic use of her clothing within a context marked by power relations and patriarchal norms. The research was developed from an interdisciplinary approach, one that articulates history, costume design, gender studies, and the theory of symbolic power. Methodologically, a qualitative approach of a descriptive and interpretive nature was used, based on a bibliographic and documentary review, an analysis of images, and interviews with specialists in history and historical costume design. Image analysis sheets were also used to examine the formal, symbolic, and morphological elements present in Manuela Sáenz's clothing. The results confirmed that Manuela Sáenz's attire functioned as a strategy of political representation and symbolic legitimation within a sociopolitical context characterized by the exclusion of women from formal spaces of power. The appropriation of elements associated with the military uniform, the construction of a visual silhouette associated with authority, and the incorporation of republican codes allowed her to create a public image that challenged traditional 19th-century models of femininity.