Argentinean Literary Orientalism: From Esteban Echeverría to Roberto Arlt (Historical and Cultural Interconnections between Latin America and Asia)

This book examines the modes of representation of the East in Argentinean literature since the country’s independence, in works by canonical authors such as Esteban Echeverría, Juan B. Alberdi, Domingo F. Sarmiento, Lucio V. Mansilla, Pastor S. Obligado, Eduardo F. Wilde, Leopoldo Lugones, and Roberto Arlt. The East, which has always fascinated intellectuals and artists from the Americas, inspired the creation of imaginary elements for both aesthetic and political purposes, from the depiction of purportedly despotic rulers to a genuine admiration for Eastern history and millennial cultures. These writers appropriated the East either through their travels or by reading chronicles, integrating along the way images that would end up being universalized by the Argentinean dichotomy between civilization and barbarism, all the while assigning the negative stereotypes of the exotic East to the Pampa region. With time, the exoticism of the Eastern world would shed its geopolitical meaning and was ultimately integrated into the national literature, thus adding new elements into the Argentinean imaginary. Preface to the English Edition Contents Part I Introduction 1 Which East by Way of the South? Prolegomena What Is Orientalism? What Is Argentinean Orientalism? The Argentinean Oriental Corpus References 2 The European Archetype and the Debate on the Eastern Question Volney and the Ideologues The Palmyra Ruins The Ibero-American Path of Les Ruines Eastern Despotism Consideration on the European Orientalist Model References Part II The East in the Pampas 3 The Romantic Importation of Esteban Echeverría and Juan Bautista Alberdi The Genesis of Romanticism and Ibero-American Orientalism Esteban Echeverría (1805–1850) Juan Bautista Alberdi (1810–1884) References 4 An Ideological Reading of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento Background Caudillismo and Despotism Postcards from Algeria Erratic Latitudes: The Sahara in the Pampas References Part III Eastern Prints from Globetrotters, Tourists and Positivists 5 The Worldly Splendor of Lucio Victorio Mansilla Daybreak in the East: The Generation of 1880, from Sarmiento to Mansilla Forbidden Games and Unspeakable Reasons Testimonials from the East British India Navigation on the Red Sea Egypt African Vengeance and a Brief Turkish Episode Conclusion References 6 The Judicious Enlightenment of Pastor Servando Obligado Pristine Vision of the Middle East Interrogating the Ruins Babel Is a Mediterranean Port Pyramids, Despotism, and Modernity Modern Tyranny Women Inside and Outside the Harems Visit to Syria and Pilgrimage Through Palestine Conclusion References 7 The Hygienist Modernity of Eduardo Faustino Wilde Demolishing Past Ruins Racial Prism and Rationalist Conjecture in the Maghreb Ceylon or Exotic Eden The Middle Empire: Between Hell and Purgatory Dawn of the Empire of Japan Conclusion References Part IV Mirages of the East 8 Arabesques and Chinoiseries in the Imagination of Leopoldo Lugones Modernism and His Vision of the East Poetry with an Orientalist Twist The Queen of Sheba Scheherazade, Omar Khayyam, and Saint-Fidelity Conclusion: Between Idealism and Paganism References 9 The Moorish African Fiction of Roberto Arlt Certain and Uncertain Africa Maghrebian Phantasmagorias Feminine Prints Equatorial Latitudes Conclusion References Part V Building Up a Literary and Cultural History of Argentinian Orientalism 10 General Conclusion The Oriental Ellipsis in Argentinean Literature Desiderata of an East to the South References Bibliography Author Index Lok Index This book examines the modes of representation of the East in Argentinean literature since the country's independence, in works by canonical authors such as Esteban Echeverría, Juan B. Alberdi, Domingo F. Sarmiento, Lucio V. Mansilla, Pastor S. Obligado, Eduardo F. Wilde, Leopoldo Lugones, and Roberto Arlt. The East, which has always fascinated intellectuals and artists from the Americas, inspired the creation of imaginary elements for both aesthetic and political purposes, from the depiction of purportedly despotic rulers to a genuine admiration for Eastern history and millennial cultures. These writers appropriated the East either through their travels or by reading chronicles, integrating along the way images that would end up being universalized by the Argentinean dichotomy between civilization and barbarism, all the while assigning the negative stereotypes of the exotic East to the Pampa region. With time, the exoticism of the Eastern world would shed its geopolitical meaning and was ultimately integrated into the national literature, thus adding new elements into the Argentinean imaginary. Axel Gasquet is Professor of Latin American Studies at the University Clermont Auvergne, France, and principal researcher at IHRIM of French National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS). He has published twelve monographs, including La cultura extraterritorial argentina (2020) and El llamado de Oriente (2015), coedited eleven essay collections and edited five critical editions, including Cultural and Literary Dialogues between Asia and Latin America (2020) and José Rizal's Noli me tangere (2019) This book examines the modes of representation of the East in Argentinean literature since the countrys independence, in works by canonical authors such as Esteban Echeverria, Juan B. Alberdi, Domingo F. Sarmiento, Lucio V. Mansilla, Pastor S. Obligado, Eduardo F. Wilde, Leopoldo Lugones, and Roberto Arlt. The East, which has always fascinated intellectuals and artists from the Americas, inspired the creation of imaginary elements for both aesthetic and political purposes, from the depiction of purportedly despotic rulers to a genuine admiration for Eastern history and millennial cultures. These writers appropriated the East either through their travels or by reading chronicles, integrating along the way images that would end up being universalized by the Argentinean dichotomy between civilization and barbarism, all the while assigning the negative stereotypes of the exotic East to the Pampa region. With time, the exoticism of the Eastern world would shed its geopolitical meaning and was ultimately integrated into the national literature, thus adding new elements into the Argentinean imaginary. Axel Gasquet is Professor of Latin American Studies at the University Clermont Auvergne, France, and principal researcher at IHRIM of French National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS). He has published twelve monographs, including La cultura extraterritorial argentina (2020) and El llamado de Oriente (2015), coedited eleven essay collections and edited five critical editions, including Cultural and Literary Dialogues between Asia and Latin America (2020) and Jose Rizals Noli me tangere (2019)