This book analyzes the impact of popular or ‘'criollo” literature on turn-of-the-century Argentina. The focus is on the years 1880 to 1910, a period of great economic expansion and urban growth fueled by massive immigration. Within the context of rapid modernization, Prieto argues that popular literature, especially that which glorified the all-but-extinct Argentine gaucho, served two functions: first, to help define and defend national values and traditions against the relentless invasion of foreigners; and, second, and somewhat paradoxically, to provide models and mechanisms by which these very same foreigners could identify with, and adapt to, their new homeland.
The work is divided into three sections. The first examines the spread of literacy, the growth of publishing, and the expanding universe of readers for this kind of literature. The second discusses the major gauchesque works and their authors: the classic Martín Fierro by José Hernández; the poetic legend of the payador Santos Vega by Rafael Obligado; and, most notably, the immensely popular stories of the outlaw gaucho Juan Moreira by Eduardo Gutiérrez. The third section looks at the impact of this literature on society at large, ranging from its influence on the theater, to its role in the formation of multinational centros criollos, to its political implications. Throughout, Prieto traces the constant tension which existed between elite literature, with its rather refined and limited audience, and popular literature, with its more elemental and broad appeal.
While this book will be of most interest and value to students of Argentine literature, it, like the material it examines, need not be confined to a limited audience. Historians, too, will benefit from it. In a well-organized and clearly documented fashion, Prieto has added to our understanding of the forces at work when Argentina experienced its most dramatic social and economic transformation and struggled to define both what it was and what it would be.
