UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title A Transatlantic Dialogue: Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and the Literary Magazines that Bridged the Atlantic (1920-1930) Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4778w50b Author Fernandez, Vanessa Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles A Transatlantic Dialogue: Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and the Literary Magazines that Bridged the Atlantic (1920-1930) A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Languages and Literatures by Vanessa Marie Fernández 2013 © Copyright by Vanessa Marie Fernández 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION A Transatlantic Dialogue: Argentina, Mexico, Spain, and the Literary Magazines that Bridged the Atlantic (1920-1930) by Vanessa Marie Fernández Doctor of Philosophy in Hispanic Languages and Literature University of California, Los Angeles, 2013 Professor Michelle Clayton, Co-Chair Professor Maarten H. van Delden, Co-Chair While the development of Spain and Latin America’s post-colonial relationship during the 1920s has been discussed across multiple disciplines and within various theoretical paradigms, this dissertation engages the topic in an unprecedented manner. Studying specific debates between Spain, Mexico, and Argentina, this project maps a concrete triangular network of cultural exchange. Based on extensive archival research in the three countries, my work maps this dialogue in correspondence, essays and fiction that appeared in literary journals, magazines and newspapers. A critical site that reflected cultural and ideological differences within the literary field, these publications provided a forum in which intellectuals experimented with vanguard aesthetics in prose, poetry, and art, and debated their ideas to create a web of reciprocity that enriched and complicated aesthetic and cultural developments on both sides of the Atlantic. The journals, magazines, and newspapers examined in this dissertation were selected according to their contributions to the triangular network of exchange. Therefore, I ii evaluate exchanges that took place in well-known journals such as Madrid’s Revista de Occidente (1923-36), Mexico’s Ulises (1927-28), and Buenos Aires’s Martín Fierro (1924-27), as well as journals that have received considerably less scholarly attention such as La Plata’s Valoraciones, Mexico’s La Antorcha, and Madrid’s El Estudiante (1925-26). My work connects unexamined exchanges with better-known polemics in order to reveal that debates previously considered isolated events were in fact part of a broader and more complex tradition of contention. For instance, whereas scholarship on the well-known 1927-polémica del meridiano intelectual has, for the most part, discussed this debate as an unexpected incident, I illustrate that it was the culmination of a series of contentious disputes on related topics that took place during the 1920s. In addition, my thesis demonstrates that these debates and exchanges had a direct impact on literary aesthetics, such as the development of Hispanic vanguard prose. iii The dissertation of Vanessa Marie Fernández is approved. Roberta L. Johnson Efraín Kristal Andrea N. Loselle María Teresa de Zubiaurre Michelle Clayton, Committee Co-Chair Maarten H. van Delden, Committee Co-Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2013 iv DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my grandmothers, Wanda D. Frey and Lavinia C. Fernández, strong women I strive to emulate, for their unconditional love and constant encourangement. I also dedicate my work to my parents, Susan F. Fernández and Ivan M. Fernández, for making my academic career possible, for their love, and for their unwavering support. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments viii Vita xi Introduction 1 Spain 9 Argentina 11 Mexico 15 Research and Organization 20 Chapter 1: Socio Political Debates: Reconfiguring the Colonial Paradigm 28 False Reciprocity: Spain’s Vacuous Cultural Overtures 31 José Ortega y Gasset and Argentina’s “Nueva Generación” 35 Conflict and Solidarity: Hispano, Ibero, and Latino americanismo(s) 49 El Estudiante: A Transatlantic Call for Solidarity 73 Chapter 2: Transatlantic Aesthetic Debates and Nationalist Tensions 82 A Diplomatic Approach: Alfonso Reyes Responds to Cipriano Rivas Cherif 82 Polemical Guillermo de Torre 87 Debates in Alfar: Guillermo de Torre, Vicente Huidobro and Oliverio Girondo 89 Ultraísmo(s): De Torre vs. Argentina’s “Nueva Generación” 99 Poetic Disputes: Latin American Poetry and Guillermo de Torre 112 Chapter 3: Polémica del meridiano intellectual 120 Kickoff: A Controversial Editorial Sets Off a Transatlantic Debate 124 A Contentious Match: Martín Fierro Calls for a “Reality Check” 131 vi Second Half: La Gaceta Literaria on Offense 138 Second Match: A Field Brawl between La Gaceta Literaria and Martín Fierro 145 Other Competitions: El Sol and La fiera letteraria 149 Polémica del meridiano intelectual: A World Cup of Letters 156 Madrid: An Economic Meridian 165 La Gaceta Literaria’s “Exposición del libro argentino-uruguayo en Madrid” 172 Chapter 4: From Journal Debate to Novelistic Form: The Case of Margarita de niebla 177 José Ortega y Gasset: The Dehumanization of Art and Notes on the Novel 181 The Dehumanization of Art 182 Notes on the Novel 194 A Metafictional Transatlantic Dialogue: Margarita de niebla Responds to The Dehumanization of Art and El profesor inútil 201 Conclusion 213 Appendix: Spanish, Argentine, and Mexican Journals 220 Spanish Journals 220 Argentine Journals 227 Mexican Journals 232 Works Cited 239 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without Michelle Clayton, Maarten H. van Delden, and Roberta L. Johnson’s guidance, support, patience, and encouragement. I would like to thank Michelle Clayton for inspiring me to venture into the avant-gardes, for believing in my project from its inception, and for challenging me to grow as a scholar and as a writer in ways I would not have thought possible. I am also profoundly grateful to Maarten H. van Delden for his careful, precise, and thorough evaluation of my work, and for his unwavering confidence in my ability to complete this project. This project would not have been possible without Professor Roberta L. Johnson’s persistent mentorship, enthusiasm for my work, and infinite willingness to revise my writing and offer constructive feedback. I would also like to thank my committee, Efraín Kristal, Andrea N. Loselle, and María Teresa de Zubiaurre, for their incredible patience, support, and meticulous feedback. Given the extensive archival research abroad that I conducted, I am indebted to many institutions and foundations for their economic support of my work: the UCLA Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Mr. and Mrs. Ben and Rue Pine, the UCLA Graduate Division, the UCLA Latin American Institute, the Mellon Foundation, and the Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain’s Ministry of Culture and United States Universities. I must also thank the many libraries I visited in Spain, Mexico, Argentina, and the United States for their willingness to let me examine their rare materials, which were often in precarious conditions. In Spain, I thank the Residencia de Estudiantes and librarians Alfredo Vlaverde Lavado, Rosa Martín López, Mar Santos Fernández, and Susana Sueiro Ortiz de Cantonad. At the Fundación Ortega y Gasset, I wish to thank Begoña Paredes, María Isabel Ferreiro, and Javier Zamora viii Bonilla. I would also like to thank librarians and staff at the Biblioteca Nacional de España in Madrid and at the Hemeroteca Municipal de Madrid, at Conde Duque. In Mexico I would like to thank the many people that helped me at the Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas at the UNAM including Lic. María Magdalena Miranda and Lic. Enrique Hernández at the Hemeroteca at the Biblioteca Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, and Dr. Aurora M. Ocampo and Dr. Carlos Rubio Pacho. I must also thank the staff at the Hemeroteca Nacional de México. I am especially grateful to Dr. Alicia Reyes Mota and Eduardo Mejía Muñiz at the Capilla Alfonsina, for kindly allowing me access to countless materials. I am greatly indebted to Lic. María Angélica Navarrete for her generous permission to review innumerable microform reels at El Universal’s Hemeroteca. I also thank Dr. Aimer Granados at the UAM, Cuajimalpa for sharing his expertise on literary journals. In addition, I am profoundly indebted to Dr. Rose Corral Jorda at the Colegio de México for her guidance and suggestions on the connections between Mexican and Argentine avant-gardes, and for her keen interest in my project. In Argentina, I thank Emilio Bernini at the Instituto de Literatura Argentina Ricardo Rojas at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. I am profoundly grateful to Dr. Noé Jitrik and Luciano Carloti at the Instituto de Literatura Hispanoamericana, also at the UBA. I would also like to thank Victoria Viau for her thorough assistance at Villa Ocampo. At the Academia Argentina de Letras I thank Lic. María Adela Di Bucchianico, Dr. Alejandro E. Parada, Lic. Clara E. Cantone, Bib. Carmen Mirta Apreda, and Bib. Fabiana Luppino. I thank Dr. Marta M. Campomar at the Fundación Ortega y Gasset Argentina for so generously sharing her research and expertise on José Ortega y Gasset’s connections to Argentina. I am also profoundly indebted to Dr. Patricia Artundo for her detailed suggestions concerning the reception of Ortega’s theories in Argentina. ix In the United States, I am grateful to Dr. José Aranda for granting me the opportunity to be a Visting Scholar in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Rice University, where I conducted research at Fondren Library and attended the Global Hispanisms lecture series. At Rice, I am also profoundly indebted to Dr. Lane Kaufmann for his very helpful suggestions concerning Ortega y Gasset and Mexico, and to Dr. Gisela Heffes for sharing her expertise on conducting research in Buenos Aires. At the University of Texas, Austin, I thank T-Kay Sangwand for her assistance at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection and the staff at the Harry Ransom Center.