Argentine Intellectuals As Harbingers of Modernity
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ARGENTINE INTELLECTUALS AS HARBINGERS OF MODERNITY: THE DEMOCRATIZATION PROJECTS OF MARCOS AGUINIS A dissertation presented by Dalia Wassner to The Department of History In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the field of History Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts April, 2012 Copyright 2012, Dalia Wassner 1 ARGENTINE INTELLECTUALS AS HARBINGERS OF MODERNITY: THE DEMOCRATIZATION PROJECTS OF MARCOS AGUINIS by Dalia Wassner ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate School of Northeastern University April, 2012 2 Abstract Marcos Aguinis (b. 1935) is an Argentine public intellectual dedicated to bringing democracy to his country by creating a participatory and inclusive public sphere. This dissertation traces the regional and global intellectual traditions upon which Aguinis draws and situates his contemporary contributions within their context. An integrated analysis of Aguinis’s civic work as Minister of Culture and of his literary oeuvre of novels, essays, and dialogues, this study elucidates the ideological conversations both “vertical” (through time) and “horizontal” (across geographic boundaries) in which Aguinis participates as he envisions his nation’s modernization. Aguinis’s overarching mission is to heal a post-colonial Argentina still shackled by a Counter-Reformation legacy of religious and social homogeneity that undermines the emergence of a diverse and democratic Latin America. In this context, this study argues that Aguinis regards Argentine society’s acceptance of his fellow Jews—an element of social, religious, and cultural diversity—as a litmus test of the country’s modernity. Recognition of Aguinis’s inspiration from and contributions to traditions of public intellectuals who define national identity provides critical insight into the global nature of modernization. In parallel, the construction of the persona of the public intellectual emerges as integral to crafting Argentina's modern identity and to engaging Argentina in a global conversation of democratization. In content and methodology, this dissertation spans the fields of intellectual history, Latin American history, literary criticism, and Jewish studies. 3 Acknowledgments I have had the wonderful fortune of being guided by an impressive committee that has inspired, supported, and mentored me through this scholarship and the doctoral path. I must first acknowledge Stephen Sadow, because of whom I came to Northeastern University. His expertise in the field of Latin American Literature, particularly in Argentina, has been invaluable to me. I am immensely grateful for his guidance; he is truly a gentleman and a scholar. The joy and intellectual edification that I derived from my doctorate is owed in large measure to the close collaboration Karin Vélez and I shared in the History Department. Her mentorship and friendship have been inestimable in seeing me through this process. Heather Streets-Salter has provided important insights into contextualizing my project within a World History framework, and I thank her for applying her wide vision to my work. Finally, I owe a great debt to Ilan Stavans, who helped inspire my interests and questions in this field and whose unfailing support I have valued tremendously throughout. 4 Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................4 Table of Contents........................................................................................................................5 Chapter 1. Introduction..............................................................................................................7 I. Topic of Research ................................................................................................................7 II. Goals and Methodology......................................................................................................7 III. Historical Salience.............................................................................................................9 Chapter 2. The Historical and Literary Context of the Argentine Public Intellectual.................12 I. The History of the Public Intellectual in Global Context ....................................................12 II. Latin American Public Intellectuals ..................................................................................24 III. Marcos Aguinis...............................................................................................................49 IV. Global Intellectuals Confront the Failures of Democracy.................................................57 V. Aguinis and Latin American Cultural Democracy.............................................................60 Chapter 3. Aguinis and Alfonsín: Public Intellectuals and the Argentine Government .............62 I. PRONDEC According to Aguinis......................................................................................64 II. Aguinis, One of Many ......................................................................................................78 III. The New Argentine Intellectual.......................................................................................85 IV. PRONDEC After Aguinis ...............................................................................................87 Chapter 4. Aguinis and the Essay: The Argentine Erasmus? ....................................................90 I. The Chosen Tradition.........................................................................................................91 II. The Essay in Latin America..............................................................................................98 III. Essays on Argentina’s Shortcomings.............................................................................117 5 Chapter 5. Dialogue: Leading by Example.............................................................................123 I. Dialogue partner, Monseñor Laguna ................................................................................124 II. Other Works of Dialogue in Latin America.....................................................................128 III. The Mission of Dialogue in Latin America and Beyond ................................................130 IV. Inside Aguinis and Laguna’s Work ...............................................................................136 V. Diálogos completos: A Local Work, a Global Message ..................................................146 Chapter 6. Jews and the Novel: Aguinis’s Means to an End...................................................149 I. Jewish Targets, National Victims.....................................................................................151 II. Aguinis, the New Latin American Intellectual ................................................................152 III. Themes and Methods.....................................................................................................157 IV. Aguinis the Novelist Surrenders to Aguinis the Psychologist.........................................176 V. Asalto in the Context of Aguinis’s Other Novels.............................................................179 VI. Summing Up.................................................................................................................195 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................197 I. A Final Genre ..................................................................................................................197 II. Closing Thoughts............................................................................................................202 Appendices ............................................................................................................................204 Appendix 1: Literary works by Marcos Aguinis ..................................................................204 Appendix 2: Articles by Marcos Aguinis.............................................................................206 Appendix 3: Scholarship on Marcos Aguinis.......................................................................211 Bibliography..........................................................................................................................214 6 Chapter 1. Introduction I. Topic of Research I situate the Argentine public intellectual, Marcos Aguinis, as participating in and building on a threefold tradition: the public intellectual as a global historical entity with roots in the French Enlightenment; the public intellectual in Argentina; and the activist intellectuals of Latin America and Europe who are Aguinis’s contemporaries and peers, and who likewise see themselves as global purveyors regarding the vertex of culture and politics in modern nation- states. I approach Aguinis’s literary and civic efforts as complimentary tools he has pursued toward his objective of nation building, endowed to Aguinis by virtue of all three traditions. Mine is therefore a study in intellectual history, concerned with the “vertical” (through time) and “horizontal” (across boundaries) conversations engaged in on