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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2018
In recent years students of contemporary Argentine letters have begun to recognize the importance of the period 1946-1955 as one of crisis, of fundamental reassessment, and of generational strife. Though it would be an oversimplification to assign the cause of these trends to the political and social changes wrought by Juan D. Perón, the study of his regime—particularly as it affected cultural activity—can help put into clearer focus the confusing picture of literary groups, “generations,” and promociones that confronts the student of recent Argentine literature.
It should be emphasized that peronismo, for better or for worse, was more than an exclusively political movement: its influence was also farreaching in broad areas of popular culture, social standards, in matters of dress, speech, and in the use of leisure time. Its effects were complex, but on balance they all tended to produce a feeling of relaxation, a looseningup of formalities and traditional practices: stuffed shirts were displaced by descamisados; the normal work week was frequently broken up by strikes and government encouraged vacations; formal attire was no longer required at the opera; and many of the public parks that previously had, by some unwritten law, been considered the semi-private preserve of the middle and upper classes, became crowded with picnicking workers and their families.
The research here reported was assisted by a grant awarded by the Joint Committee on Latin American Studies of the Social Science Research Council.
1 See Dellepiane, Angela B., “La novela argentina desde 1950 a 1965,” Revista Iberoamericana, Núm. 66 (julio-dic. 1968), pp. 239–244 Google Scholar; Ghiano, Juan Carlos, La novela argentina contemporánea (Buenos Aires: Dirección General de Relaciones Culturales, s.f.), p. 7 Google Scholar; Jitrik, Noé, Seis novelistas argentinos de la nueva promoción (Mendoza: Bibl. San Martín, 1959), pp. 29–30 Google Scholar; Monegal, Emir Rodríguez, El juicio de los parricidas (Buenos Aires: Dencalión, 1956), pp. 9, 84-85, 90.Google Scholar For a discussion of this generation of writers in the context of general Spanish American trends, see Arrom, José J., Esquema generacional de las letras hispánicas (Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo, 1963), pp. 214–217.Google Scholar
2 Oscar Ivanissevich, untitled editorial, Argentina, Num. 1: (enero 1949), p. 2. The author was minister of education and, shortly afterward, Rector of the University of Buenos Aires.
3 Argentina, Num. 4 (mayo, 1949), p. 11.
4 An indication that the publication was subvented by the government may be seen in the fact that it sold for two pesos, a price substantially lower than that of magazines of similar size and format.
5 See especially the articles by Cascella, Armando, “Trascendencia de la tercera posición,” Sexto Continente, Núm. 7-8 (nov.-díc. 1950), p. 21 Google Scholar, and by Miguel Ángel Virasoro, “El trabajo y la dignidad del Ser,” ibid., pp. 27-41.
6 Though I have not attempted to document this point formally, I am struck by the fact that so many Argentines associate the vogue of folk music with the Perón period. It was during the mid and late forties that one of the first popularizers of música folklórica of the northern interior, Atahualpa Yupanqui, began performing (and even writing on the subject) for urban audiences.
7 Revista de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, Núm. 17 (enero-marzo 1950), p. 11.
8 Carvallo's articles are especially interesting since they indicate early Marxist support of Perón. See “El hombre y la máquina,” La Prensa, May 11, 1952, p. 11, and “La herencia cultural y la clase trabajadora,” La Prensa, June 22, 1952, p. 9. Several Argentine scholars have suggested to me that Carvallo may be the pseudonym of a better known writer, but if this is so, I have not been able to ascertain his identity.
9 Recuerdos de la vida literaria IV, (Buenos Aires: Hachette, 1965): 174.
10 According to Gálvez (Memorias IV: 175) the portrait of Eva was actually placed in an adjoining corridor, rather than alongside that of Perón himself in the main salon. Eva never quite forgave the organization.
11 Memorias IV: 176.
12 The view of Perón and Peronism as precursors of National Left type movements seems to have gained considerable popularity among heterodox radicals of the last decade. Juan José Hernández Arregui has been especially influential in this regard. See his La formación de la conciencia nacional: 1930-1960 (Buenos Aires: Ediciones Hachea, 1960).
13 An excellent and only slightly fictionalized account of Perón's shakedown of businessmen is found in Manuel Peyrou's novel Acto y ceniza (Buenos Aires: Emecé, 1963).
14 Though Perón gradually lost the backing of the military elites, he established a firm base of support among the noncommissioned officers. Through special clubs for noncoms and other benefits he established himself as the sergeants’ and corporals' friend. Even today some of the most ardent peronistas to whom I have talked, were noncoms during his regime.
15 Sábato, Ernesto in his El otro dostro del peronismo (Buenos Aires, 1956), p. 34 Google Scholar, supports this view: “ … cada nación tiene también el rostro que inmanentemente se merece, pues todos somos culpables de todo, y en cada argentino había un fragmento de Perón.”
16 Espiga actually was started a few years earlier in Rosario, though it was moved to Buenos Aires in 1951. For further discussion of the literary reviews of the period, see Héctor Rene Lafleur et al., Las revistas literarias argentinas 1893-1967, Edición corregida y aumentada (Buenos Aires: Centro Editor de América Latina, 1968), pp. 255-287.
17 El juicio de los parricidas, pp. 21-22.
18 Los viajeros (Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 1955), p. 28.
19 A good sampling of this sort of generational sniping may be found in the articles in the special issue of Contorno, Num. 5-6 (sept. 1955), dedicated to the Argentine novel. Similar criticisms of the older generation of writers appear in Letra y Línea, No. 4 (julio 1954) and in Semirrecta, Num. 6-7 (1953). Though it is centered on only one author, Adolfo Prieto's Borges y la nueva generación (Buenos Aires: Letras Universitarias, 1954) follows a similar line of attack.
20 “Las ciento y una,” Las Ciento y Una, No. 1 (junio 1953), p. 3.
21 Semirrecta, Num. 6-7 (1953), p. 1.
22 Loc. cit.
23 “La traición de los hombres honestos,” Contorno, No. 1 (nov. 1953), p. 2.
24 Capecchi, Ramón, “Nuestra generación y la crisis,”Semirrecta, Núm. 6-7, (1953), p. 11.Google Scholar
25 “La historia excluida: ubicación de Martínez Estrada,” Contorno, Núm. 4 (die. 1954), pp. 14-15.
26 Troiani, Osiris, “Examen de conciencia,” Contorno, Núm. 7-8 (julio 1956), pp. 9–11.Google Scholar
27 “Miedos, complejos y malosentendidos,” Contorno, Num. 7-8 (julio 1956), pp. 11-12.
28 Pandolfi, Rodolfo Mario, “17 de Octubre, trampa y salida,” Contorno, Num. 7-8 (Julio 1956), p. 22.Google Scholar
29 Sebreli, Juan José, “Aventura y revolución peronista: Testimonio,” Contorno, Núm. 7-8 (julio 1956), pp. 45–49.Google Scholar
30 Heterodoxia (Buenos Aires: Emecé, 1953), p. 47.
31 Ibid., p. 91. See also his “Sentido común” in Uno y el universo, 2*. edic. (Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 1948), pp. 178 179.
32 El otro rostro del peronismo (Buenos Aires: Imp. López, 1956), p. 43.
33 Ibid., p. 57.
34 See E. Rodríguez Monegal, Parricidas, p. 13; Murena, A. H., El pecado original de América (Buenos Aires: Sur, 1958), pp. 105–129 Google Scholar; as well as Contorno, Num. 4 (die. 1954) dedicated exclusively to Martinez Estrada.
35 “Martínez Estrada o el alma encadenada,” Capricornio, Núm. 8 (nov.-dic. 1954), p. 22.
36 Loe. cit.
37 Sur, Núm. 237 (sept.-oct. 1955), p. 7.
38 La novela argentina contemporánea, p. 18.
39 Dar la cara (Buenos Aires: Ed. Jamcona, 1962), p. 518.
40 Desde esta carne (Buenos Aires: Sudamericana, 1952), p. 124.
41 Su generación (Buenos Aires: Nova, 1956), p. 11.
42 Ibid., p. 49.
43 La novela argentina contemporánea, p. 21.
44 There is perhaps some significance in the fact that several non-Argentine “indigenista” writers collaborated in the peronista review Sexto Continente. A few pieces by José Vasconcelos and Jorge Icaza appear in the review during 1949.
45 América profunda (Buenos Aires: Hachette, 1962), p. 188.
46 El desarraigo argentino (Buenos Aires: Americalee, 1959), pp. 122-126.
47 América profunda, p. 14.
