The Self of the City .................11134$ $$FM 05-24-0513:33:35 PS PAGE1 .................11134$ $$FM 05-24-0513:33:36 PS PAGE2 The Self of the City Macedonio Ferna´ndez, the Argentine Avant-Garde, and Modernity in Buenos Aires Todd S. Garth Lewisburg Bucknell UniversityPress .................11134$ $$FM 05-24-0513:33:37 PS PAGE3 (cid:2)2005byRosemontPublishing&PrintingCorp. Allrightsreserved.Authorizationtophotocopyitemsforinternalorpersonaluse, ortheinternalorpersonaluseofspecificclients,isgrantedbythecopyrightowner, provided thata base fee of $10.00, plus eightcents per page,per copy ispaid di- rectlytotheCopyrightClearanceCenter,222RosewoodDrive,Danvers,Massachu- setts01923.[0-8387-5615-8/05$10.00(cid:3)8¢pp,pc.] AssociatedUniversityPresses 2010EastparkBoulevard Cranbury,NJ08512 ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstherequirementsoftheAmerican NationalStandardforPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials Z39.48-1984. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Garth,ToddS.,1958– Theselfofthecity:MacedonioFerna´ndez,theArgentineAvant-Garde,and modernityinBuenosAires/ToddS.Garth. p. cm. ISBN0-8387-5615-8(alk.paper) 1. Ferna´ndez,Macedonio,1874–1952—Criticismandinterpretation. 2. Postmodernism(Literature)—Argentina. 3. Selfinliterature. 4. Identity (Psychology)inliterature. 5. BuenosAires(Argentina)—Inliterature. I. Title. PQ7797.F312Z693 2005 863(cid:2).62—dc22 2004063841 printedintheunitedstatesofamerica .................11134$ $$FM 05-24-0513:33:37 PS PAGE4 ForGary, whomadeitpossibletodothis, andinmemoryofmymother, whomadeitimpossiblenottodo. .................11134$ $$FM 05-24-0513:33:38 PS PAGE5 .................11134$ $$FM 05-24-0513:33:38 PS PAGE6 Contents Thanks 9 AbbreviationsandCopyright 11 BiographicalNote 13 1. Departures 17 2. The Mythof theAccidentalAuthor 32 3. AnAvant-gardeApart 48 4. The PoliticalIsthe Personal 89 5. MindingtheBody 119 6. The Selfof theCity 162 7. Continuities 192 Notes 198 WorksCited 211 Index 221 7 .................11134$ CNTS 05-24-0513:33:40 PS PAGE7 .................11134$ CNTS 05-24-0513:33:40 PS PAGE8 Thanks F IRSTANDFOREMOST,ACKNOWLEDGMENTGOESTOTHELATEADOLFODE Obieta,whoseselflessnesswasmatchedonlybyhiskindnessandhis enthusiasm for his father’s genius. Adolfo’s heirs and Alejandra Va- lente,formercuratoroftheMacedonioFerna´ndezpapers,andnow the Fundacio´n Palermo, where those papers have found a home, havecontinuedtoextendthatkindnesstogratefulscholars.Among the innumerableother people in Argentina who helped realize this project, I should at least mention: Ana Camblong (who deserves much more than thanks), Ne´lida Salvador, Ricardo Piglia, Dora Ba- rrancos, Noe´ Jitrik, Washington Pereyra; Nicola´s Helft, and his gra- cious mother, of the Fundaciones San Telmo and Palermo; Juan Molina y Vedia, Alejandro Vaccaro, Hugo Biagini, Horacio Gonza´- lez,RicardoKalima´n,SoniaVicentedeAlvarez,Mo´nicaBueno,Ger- ma´nGarc´ıa, andAlvaroAbo´s. At Johns Hopkins University, thanks go to the Spanish faculty of the department Romance Languages and Literatures: Sara Castro- Klare´n, a wise and dedicated advisor; Eduardo Gonza´lez, Paul Olson,Harry Sieber,andAnaMar´ıa Snell.Thanksaswell toformer Hopkins colleagues Noe¨l Valis, Mar´ıa del Rosario Ramos Gonza´lez, MiguelFerna´ndez,MarcySchwartz,HeatherDubnick,LauraBeard, andVikiZavales,allofwhomhavehadahandinthisatsomepoint. At the University of Maryland, Ineke Phaf, Charles Caramello, and SusanLansergavemean exceptionalstart. Elsewhereintheworld:JoAnneEngelbert,NaomiLindstrom,Ali- cia Borinsky, Daniel Balderston, Gwen Kirkpatrick, Donna Guy, Christopher Leland, Scott Link, Laura Dahlmann de Toledo, Mi- chael Gerli, Thomas and Carol Reese, Julio Prieto, Carlos Garc´ıa in Hamburg, and the remarkable Peter Johnson of the Princeton Uni- versity Libraries. Librarians, who surely merit their own Executive Clubinheaven,deservespecialmentionhere.Amongthemarethe librarians and staff at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin; those at the special collections departments of the University of Virginia and the University Pittsburgh libraries; Paul 9 .................11134$ TNKS 05-24-0513:33:45 PS PAGE9 10 THANKS Dzyak—a true gentleman—of the Pennsylvania State University ar- chives;andat theU.S.NavalAcademy’sNimitzLibrary,PattiPatter- son, and especially Florene Todd, who I am convinced possesses magical powers. In Buenos Aires, the library staff of the UBA Facul- taddeMedicinaprovedpatientandhelpful;alsodeservingmention are the librarians of the Museo de la Ciudad and the astonishing Asociacio´n Amigos de Tranv´ıa; most extraordinary of all are the ex- pertlibrariansatthe BibliotecadelaMujer. Projects culminating in the publication of this book were made possiblebythegenerousgrantsfromtheJohnsHopkinsLatinAmer- icanStudiesprogramandtheNavalAcademyResearchCouncil.My colleagues in the Language Studies department at the U.S. Naval Academy have been exceptional in their encouragement and their effortsto affordmethetime toseethisbookto completion. Andextrathanksto VickyUnruh,trulyascholar’sscholar. .................11134$ TNKS 05-24-0513:33:45 PS PAGE10