Dos notas sobre Roberto Arlt

Abstract

Whether vanguard or anti-vanguard, Argentine writers could always find on the Uruguayan side of the River Plate, either a severe critical scrutiny, or a privileged “sounding board”. There, the journals and newspapers, and the reading public as a whole, were from the elite of the social spectrum. In the same period, Borges, Victoria Ocampo, Carlos Mastronardi, among others, found their place with this public and its publications. However, Arlt’s work was ignored until Onetti cited him as an example to be followed, at around the time of the Argentine author’s death. And yet, Arlt visited Montevideo, where he wrote about more marginal social spheres, rather than about these educated groups. This article examines these questions—and their consequences.