The writer’s profile. Two generations in Argentina

Abstract

This paper reviews different writer’s profiles that circulated among Argentine authors acclaimed by readers and the critic and look into how that profile or image is projected onto contemporary writers. Theoretical and critical points of view are consulted, such as Juan José Saer, Ricardo Piglia, David Viñas and César Aira. Theirs literary postures are related with those of other Argentine writers that appeared in the book Encuesta a la literature argentina contemporánea, published in 1982 by Centro Editor de América Latina and with Graciela Speranza’s interviews published in 1995 in her book Primera persona. In her work, a new generation of writers think themselves and their place in the contemporary literary system. Taking as a starting point a temporal and generational cut, I will try to determine the social marks ejected into each literary universe that belongs to every writer. In doing so, I will use a notion coined by Raymond Williams (1998): ‘structure of feeling’.