Are we alone? Scientific dissemination and literary representation of extraterrestrial life in Chilean magazines (1900-1915) ; ¿Estamos solos? Divulgación científica y representación literaria de la vida extraterrestre en magazines chilenos (1900-1915)

At the end of the 1870s, the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli reported the discovery of supposed channels on the planet Mars. From then on, there was a controversy between those who agreed and disagreed with this theory. During the early years of the twentieth century this scientific discussion intensified and permeated the pages of magazines (especially illustrated and cultural magazines) for two main reasons. First, because the controversy was subject to optical testing, and secondly, because magazines were able to include visual devices such as photographs thanks to advances in the printing industry. Our work studies the coverage in the Chilean magazines of this controversy about the channels on Mars that resulted in the question of whether or not there was life on the red planet (the channels were supposedly artificial rivers that would have been built by some intelligent living being). The proposal involves analyzing the ways in which these astronomical theories that circulated globally were disseminated and represented locally by reviewing some of the main Chilean magazines of the early twentieth century, such as Sucesos, Zig-Zag, Corre-Vuela and Pacífico Magazine. ; A fines de la década de 1870 el astrónomo italiano Giovanni Schiaparelli reportó el descubrimiento de supuestos canales en el planeta Marte. A partir de entonces, se sostuvo una controversia entre aquellos que aprobaban y desaprobaban dicha teoría. Durante los primeros años del siglo XX esta discusión científica se intensificó y permeó sustancialmente las páginas de revistas culturales, especialmente de magazines, puesto que la controversia estaba supeditada a pruebas ópticas, y gracias a la modernización de la industria de la imprenta, este tipo de publicaciones incluía entre otros dispositivos visuales, la fotografía. Nuestro trabajo estudia la cobertura en los magazines chilenos de esta controversia sobre los canales en Marte que se tradujo en la pregunta de si había vida o no en el planeta rojo (los canales eran supuestos ríos ...