1 THE PARROT AND THE CANNON. JOURNALISM, LITERATURE AND POLITICS IN THE FORMATION OF LATIN AMERICAN IDENTITIES By Pablo L. Calvi Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Columbia University 2011 2 © 2011 Pablo Calvi All rights reserved 3 Abstract THE PARROT AND THE CANNON. JOURNALISM, LITERATURE AND POLITICS IN THE FORMATION OF LATIN AMERICAN IDENTITIES Pablo Calvi The Parrot and the Cannon. Journalism, Literature and Politics in the Formation of Latin American Identities explores the emergence of literary journalism in Latin America as a central aspect in the formation of national identities. Focusing on five periods in Latin American history from the post-colonial times until the 1960s, it follows the evolution of this narrative genre in parallel with the consolidation of professional journalism, the modern Latin American mass media and the formation of nation states. In the process, this dissertation also studies literary journalism as a genre, as a professional practice, and most importantly as a political instrument. By exploring the connections between journalism, literature and politics, this dissertation also illustrates the difference between the notions of factuality, reality and journalistic truth as conceived in Latin America and the United States, while describing the origins of Latin American militant journalism as a social-historical formation. i Table of Contents Introduction. The Place of Literary Journalism in Latin American 1 Studies Literary Journalism in the Foundations of Latin America 3 Part I. From the Personal to the Political: the Origins and Foundations 15 of a Latin American Literary Journalism The Curious Trial of Francisco Bilbao 21 The Origins of Latin American Nonfiction in the Hands of a 36 Political Exile Hyperbole and the Development of a Political Agenda 39 The Political Role of Caudillos in Post-Colonial Latin America 47 The Uses of Journalism: Sarmiento’s Second Exile in Chile 53 Books and Enlightenment in a Land of the Ranchers 60 Facundo: a Parrot and a Cannon as Passports into the World 64 The political Power of Books 68 Sarmiento’s First Journey to the United States: 82 Misunderstanding the Penny Press Part II. José Martí and the Chronicles that built Modern Latin America 93 Economic and Societal Changes: the Latin American 97 Expansion between 1880s and 1900 i ii The Reporter and the Foreign Correspondent 102 Politics and the Press 104 Martí and Blaine 113 La Nación of Buenos Aires 116 Escenas Norteamericanas: Forewarnings About the Power of a 121 Rising Empire Modernismo, Martí, and a Radical Renovation of the Spanish 126 Language Rethinking a Mass Medium 136 Covering the Pan American Conference 139 Martí’s Republican Program 146 Part III. Modernity, Markets and Urban Bohemia in Buenos Aires at 150 the Turn of the Century The Publishing Boom of the 1910s 155 Argentina, A Unique Setting for the Development of a Mass 160 Publishing Industry Caras y Caretas 164 The Mass Public and the Modern City 172 The Journalism of Soiza Reilly 175 Dispatches 183 Buenos Aires, Bohemia and the Mass Public 191 Exit Through the Radio 197 ii iii Part IV. The Mass Press 202 A purveyor of iniquities 209 New Contracts for a New Public 219 The Political Stance 226 A Different Kind of Popular Press 232 The Secret of Success 235 Productivity, Mass Production and the Rhetoric of Numbers 239 Arlt’s Etchings and the Presentation of the Argentine 244 Character Part V. Latin American Narrative Journalism and the Cuban 251 Revolution At the Origins of Testimonio (an Interlude) 258 Years of Hope 261 The context for a new journalism: testimonio and the 265 revolutionary 1960s in Latin America Casa de las Américas: a Programmatic Attempt to Develop a 267 New Social Literature Casa de las Américas and the Rise of Testimonio 271 Literary Journalism as an institution in the USA 275 The authorial stance 278 Walsh and the Politics of Truth 285 iii iv After the Coup of 1955 289 “I wanted to win the Pulitzer” 291 Operación Masacre and the Morals of Death 298 The Vertical Death 301 Canon and Death, the Story and the History 308 Latin American Narrative Nonfiction and the Concealed 311 Narrator The intrinsically Aesthetic Purposes 313 Reporting and Narrative Distance. The Matrix of Proximity 319 The Official Story? 322 Conclusions. 326 -But, is it Journalism? 329 -Well… define journalism! References. 331 iv v Acknowledgments Many thanks to Andie Tucher, Todd Gitlin and Graciela Montaldo for their mentoring and support. Their insightful observations and constant counseling helped me see both the tree and the forest in the vast jungle of Latin American journalism. Their generosity with time and ideas exceeded what I could have ever hoped for. Thanks to Brigitte Nacos who was always gentle, attentive and enthusiastic about this dissertation. Our conversations were unfailingly stimulating and fun, and helped me keep track of the rare occasions when I was aiming in the right direction. A fellowship at CELSA, the Graduate School of Information and Communication Sciences of the Université Paris-Sorbonne, Paris IV, allowed me to complete the final manuscript of this dissertation in a comfortable Parisian environment. The position also granted me the freedom to design and teach my first two graduate seminars on this topic, as a guest lecturer during the muggy and rainy French fall of 2010 and the breezy and sunny spring of 2011. To Veronique Richard and Kyle Schneider I wish to express my most sincere gratitude. For their encouragement throughout the many years that took me to complete this doctoral project, but also for their friendship and support I am grateful to Helen Benedict, who rekindled in me the love for literary journalism, and to David Klatell, who was always ready and available for a pep talk. My colleagues at Columbia University Ph.D. program in Communications were all a constant source of v vi inspiration, but I am particularly grateful to Ben Peters, who spent more than one afternoon of his indefatigable energy reading my manuscripts, and to Chris W. Anderson, who walked me through the intricacies of teaching Contemporary Civilization. I am also indebted to my dearest friend Ben Goldman, his masterful quill and his overwhelming generosity. Many nights in Fort Greene would have been lost without his company. I am deeply grateful to Kelly Sharp, who once flew from New York to Austin and back with the undeserving company of one of my first drafts. Her patience and kindness went beyond what I ever merited. My friend and colleague Tessa Ditner read parts 3 and 4 of the manuscript with enthusiasm, dedication and care, and was kind to offer me invaluable advice. David Abrahamson, Todd Schack, Sue Joseph and John Hartsock, all colleagues and friends from the International Association of Literary Journalism Studies, were the sounding board for many of the ideas in this dissertation. Their generous support and disinterested advice helped me carry on through moments of uncertainty. Richard Keeble read section 2 of this dissertation and thought it deserving of becoming part of a book. The book is now in print, and I thank him for having offered me that fantastic opportunity. My parents Jorge and Liliana, and my siblings María Virginia, Gabriel, María Laura and Juani, all in Buenos Aires, spent hours on the phone with me when I needed them most. I could never thank them enough for their unconditional love and support. vi vii Lady Violet, the cuddliest bull terrier in the entire world, my loyal and loving companion of many early mornings and late nights of writing, also deserves my gratitude. To Erika Stahlman, my wife, my friend, who shared with me moments of joy and moments of distress, and deserves all the credit for keeping our home livable, enjoyable and beautiful during times I could barely see beyond the white page in front of my eyes, goes all my love and gratitude. All the merits of this work need to be shared with these and many other friends and colleagues who ecouraged me throughout this experience. None of the limitations, errors and mistakes of this work, though, belong to anybody but me. vii viii To Erika, Liliana and Jorge viii 1 Introduction. The Place of Literary Journalism in Latin American Studies We sometimes think of journalism as one stable, continuous set of practices with a clear goal: to inform the public about the present, the current developments in our town and our world, our daily culture and life. But both as a practice and as a form of social discourse, journalism is in actual fact, far more complex. Considered as a form of social discourse, modern journalism encompasses narrative, descriptive and argumentative genres in an array of forms, produced with an array of techniques, and delivered on varied platforms and formats. These genres (defined both structurally and thematically) are in fact meant to describe (based on the mimetic premises of positivism), but also to enlighten (based on the idealistic premises of romanticism) certain aspects of our quotidian reality.1 Like all genres, the journalistic ones vary –sometimes a lot, sometimes not so much—across borders, societies and time. From epic poems to newscasts and breaking news, from open letters to the first modern interviews, from political editorials to video documentaries… news spots, human interest stories, profiles, local color stories, editorials, opinion columns, forecasts, all these forms have added 1 For a closer discussion about genres see Liddle 2009, Seriot 2007, and the classic studies of Bakhtin 1984 and Todorov 1970. For a historical approach to the journalistic genres see Gomis 2008. 2 their own defining features to journalism, and have presented variations from place to place and from one historical moment to the next.