Resumen

Through examining the liras populares, this study offers an approximation to social and urban history in the liberal and nitrate-funded Chilean era (1880-1920). These single sheets of popular poetry allow us to uncover social representations and sensibilities around wide topics. This article analyzes issues regarding criminality and justice, crime and punishment. The liras’ analysis explores a popular hermeneutic that nuances traditional interpretations around Chilean crime and judiciary, opening new approaches to popular understandings on urban violence, the classism of the judiciary apparatus, and the debates concerning dead penalty. Likewise, this article explores the problem of the liras’ urban distribution, circulation and impact, looking after the popular culture circuits that were growingly, dialogically linked to other expressions of cultural production.