Book contents
- A History of Argentine Literature
- A History of Argentine Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Editors’ Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Literary Dates
- Part II Critical Inroads
- Part III Literary Names
- Chapter 21 Sarmiento: Politics, Culture, and Spectacle
- Chapter 22 The Mansilla Siblings: A Story in Syntony
- Chapter 23 Martín Fierro: Subaltern Voices
- Chapter 24 Borges and Argentine Literature: A Detour around the World
- Chapter 25 Roberto Arlt
- Chapter 26 The Ocampo Sisters
- Chapter 27 Alfonsina Storni and Alejandra Pizarnik
- Chapter 28 Displacement and Transfer in Julio Cortázar’s Todos los fuegos el fuego
- Chapter 29 Manuel Puig’s Circuit Bending: Literary Listening against Surveillance
- Chapter 30 Operation Massacre: Dangerous Journalism
- Chapter 31 The Politics of the Poem: From Gelman to Perlongher
- Chapter 32 Scenes from Postmodern Life: Literary Interventions in the Public Sphere
- Chapter 33 Griselda Gambaro and Beyond: A “Dermography” of Contemporary Women’s Theater and Performance
- Chapter 34 César Aira and the Art of Invention
- Index
- References
Chapter 23 - Martín Fierro: Subaltern Voices
from Part III - Literary Names
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 May 2024
- A History of Argentine Literature
- A History of Argentine Literature
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Editors’ Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Literary Dates
- Part II Critical Inroads
- Part III Literary Names
- Chapter 21 Sarmiento: Politics, Culture, and Spectacle
- Chapter 22 The Mansilla Siblings: A Story in Syntony
- Chapter 23 Martín Fierro: Subaltern Voices
- Chapter 24 Borges and Argentine Literature: A Detour around the World
- Chapter 25 Roberto Arlt
- Chapter 26 The Ocampo Sisters
- Chapter 27 Alfonsina Storni and Alejandra Pizarnik
- Chapter 28 Displacement and Transfer in Julio Cortázar’s Todos los fuegos el fuego
- Chapter 29 Manuel Puig’s Circuit Bending: Literary Listening against Surveillance
- Chapter 30 Operation Massacre: Dangerous Journalism
- Chapter 31 The Politics of the Poem: From Gelman to Perlongher
- Chapter 32 Scenes from Postmodern Life: Literary Interventions in the Public Sphere
- Chapter 33 Griselda Gambaro and Beyond: A “Dermography” of Contemporary Women’s Theater and Performance
- Chapter 34 César Aira and the Art of Invention
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter conciliates two different demands. On the one hand, it presents Martín Fierro as the apex of the gauchesca genre, as an intervention in political and cultural conflicts regarding the consolidation of the nation-state, the conservative order, rural capitalism, and the relationship between urban elites and rural populations, taking into consideration the two very different contexts in which both parts of the poem were written and initially read. On the other, it presents what seems to be the most impactful and widespread legacy of the poem: how, through the trope of the gaucho outlaw, the poem establishes a mode of conceiving the relationship between lettered elite and subaltern bodies and voices, when articulated to diverse (even contrasting) cultural/political projects. This articulation entails a constant redefinition of what “subaltern” may mean but always seems to assume unique uses of gaucho bodies and voices. One example would be the notion of the gaucho sociolect as the true national language and not a frontier sociolect, something unique to Latin America. How this came to be, and why, and with what consequences, are guiding questions.
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- A History of Argentine Literature , pp. 356 - 369Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024