This book is the result of a seminar conducted by the Institute of Letters of the National University of the Litoral, Rosario, Argentina, during the year 1959. Professor Adolfo Prieto was director of the seminar. Some fourteen other professors collaborated in the seminar and in the preparation of this book.
The collaborators represented a variety of fields of interest. Their subject was a difficult one. As the prologue says, “the mere mention of Rosas and his age before a group of Argentine scholars would arouse the most inflamed reactions.” But the participants resolved to lay aside any prejudices they may have had about Rosas, and to examine their subject with objectivity.
The book consists of seven chapters and a bibliography. The introduction contains an evaluation of the historic and social importance of the age of Rosas, and notes the volume and significance of the literature conditioned by rosismo. Chapters II through VI show how Rosas and his times were subjects for the poet, novelist, short story writer, dramatist, journalist, and biographer. The last chapter deals with the symbols, signs, and images of rosismo.
The authors of this book show that most of the literature of the nineteenth century condemns the tyranny of Rosas. His most severe critics were his own contemporaries. Esteban Echeverría, the romantic poet, wrote El Matadero which epitomized the crimes of Rosas. José Marmol, the novelist, wrote Amalia, a description of the sad events of the time. D. F. Sarmiento, Life of Facundo, or Civilization and Barbarism, is the best polemic against Rosas.
Rosas is defended in the field of journalism, but this is because he controlled the main newspaper of Buenos Aires, namely La Gaceta Mercantil, for many years.
The collaborators of this volume state that, with certain exceptions, rosista literature has maintained the same characteristics in the present century as in the preceding one. During the last decade particularly, much has been written on the subject, and apologists of Rosas are still few and far between.
The book is well organized and properly balanced. It has an excellent bibliography. It will be useful to all students with an interest in Rosas and his times.
