The 'Marechal-Paradigm' or the 'hird position' of Argentinean literature

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Claudia Hammerschmidt
• Subject Area: European and American Literary and Cultural Studies
• Term: from 2015 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 263030092

The transnational project about the Marechal-Paradigm is guided by the hypothesis that besides Jorge Luis Borges and Roberto Arlt there exists a third founding figure of literary (post)modernity in Argentina, Leopoldo Marechal, which develops as a kind of allegorical-parodic third position within the emerging literary field between Borges' intellectual esthetics of simulation on the one hand, and Arlt's sociocritical, allegedly deficient style, on the other. The second working hypothesis to be tested is that Marechal's writing performs a constant crossing over between antimodern (neoplatonist), modern (avant-gardist), and postmodern (parodic) positions, by which it transcends the European parameters of teleological models. In the framework of the bilateral cooperation, the Argentinean research team sets out to systematically verify the existence of a (thematically and esthetically founded) Marechal-Paradigm by contrastively juxtaposing it with the founding fathers of narrative modernity in Argentina: Jorge Luis Borges and Roberto Arlt. On the other hand, the German side of the project reveals the existence of an allegorical-parodic Marechal-Paradigm by diachronically scanning - by means of analyzing the continuous reception of Marechal since 1965 - the emergence of an alternative literary field which digresses from the Argentinean canon. There has been an increase in international translations, critical editions, and scientific essays concerned with Marechal, an author who has long remained insufficiently received in Argentina due to political reasons, since the 1990s. However, a comprehensive view of Marechal's interactions with his contemporaries, of the hidden tradition of the Marechal reception, or of the impact Marechal has had on the subsequent generation of authors has remained absent up to this day. In this sense, by developing an inclusive understanding of Leopoldo Marechal and his work, the research project aims at proving the existence of the Marechal-Paradigm, thus tackling an academic void within the literary history of Latin America.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Argentina
• Partner Organisation: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; MINISTERIO DE CIENCIA, TECNOLOGÍA E ; INNOVACIÓN PRODUCTIVA
• Participating Person: Professorin Dr. Mariela Blanco