Picture this: A select group of private and governmental technocrats present their respective technologies as evidence that a better, more perfect future is inevitable, as long as, of course, the future looks the way they think it should. No, I don’t mean those of today, the A.I. and crypto elites and their governmental pals. I’m talking about those of 20th century Latin America who used aviation not just as a means to build a national industry, but a culture as well.
As part of NASA’s “Aerospace Latin America: A History” seminar series, UHD’s Dr. Peter
Soland, Assistant Professor of History, Humanities and Languages, shared some of his
latest research on how the technology, culture, and politics of aviation reshaped
the the Latin American world in a lecture titled “A God's Eye View: Aviators and the
Re-Conquest of Latin America.”
During his lecture, Dr. Soland educated attendees how early pioneers like Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont captivated Latin American societies. These aviators were seen as masters of the skies, Dr. Soland said, their skill and hyper-masculine posturing complemented representations of national progress and ambition in the wake of the many revolutions that took place throughout the 20th century.
In his presentation, Dr. Soland explored how early aviation pioneers, such as the iconic Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont, captured the imagination of Latin American societies. These figures were often seen as modern-day conquistadors, their mastery of the skies symbolizing progress and national ambition. This archetype of the daring aviator, embodying technological advancement and a sense of the "technological sublime," was critical to the development of modern societies with clear (though perhaps not equitable) national identities.
Using his wealth of knowledge from years of research, including that gained while working on his recent monograph, "Mexican Icarus: Aviation and the Modernization of Mexican Identity" (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2023), Dr. Soland used magazines, films, press coverage, government documents, and coverage of state-sponsored events to evidence the notion that “politicians, industrialists, and cultural tastemakers in the media…molded the aviator into an archetype of modern citizenship that represented cosmopolitanism, individualism, and technological proficiency.”
Dr. Soland's participation in this prestigious NASA seminar series is just one of many significant contributions UHD faculty have made to the scholarship in their field and is evidence that having one’s head in the clouds isn’t as impractical as it may seem.
Image citations (in order of appearance):
Cover of Revista Aeronautica, no. 24 (October 1952). Linda Hall Library.
Tohtli vol. 3 no. 12 (Dec. 1918).