Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar as relações entre o gênero policial e os romances La pesquisa (1994), de Juan José Saer, e Plata quemada (1997), de Ricardo Piglia. Inseridos nas poéticas singulares e originais de seus autores, ambos os textos refletem, por um lado, as práxis narrativas que tanto Saer quanto Piglia já vinham desenvolvendo havia vários anos quando da publicação dos livros, nos anos noventa. Por outro lado, a leitura dos romances sob a perspectiva das narrativas policiais, frequentemente associadas a uma literatura popular ou de massas, leva à indagação de se e como é possível o desenvolvimento de uma escrita mais complexa e ambiciosa esteticamente em diálogo com as convenções que, em princípio, caracterizam o gênero literário. A partir desta questão, a hipótese de leitura se concentrará no conceito de transgressão dentro da literatura, partindo da ideia de Michel Foucault desenvolvida no ensaio Prefacio a la transgresión. A transgressão pensada na escrita de La pesquisa e Plata quemada, então, pode consistir em um gesto que, ao franquear os limites genéricos, não só reconfigura as poéticas de Saer e Piglia, como também repensa o conceito de gênero policial, bem como a relação dos dois escritores com o contexto cultural em que desenvolvem suas obras. / This study aims to analyze the relations between crime fiction as a literary genre and the novels La pesquisa [The investigation] (1994), by Juan José Saer, and Plata quemada [Burnt money] (1997), by Ricardo Piglia. Inserted into their author´s unique and original poetics, both texts reflect, on the one hand, the narrative praxis that both Saer and Piglia had already been developing for several years when the books were published in the nineties. On the other hand, the reading of the novels from the perspective of crime fiction, a genre often associated with popular or mass literature, leads to the question of how is it possible to develop a more complex and ambitious writing, aesthetically speaking, in dialog with the conventions that, in principle, distinguish the literary genre. From this point on, the hypothesis of reading will focus on the concept of transgression in literature, as it is developed by Michel Foucault in his essay Prefacio a la transgresión [A Preface to Transgression]. Back to the way La pesquisa and Plata quemada are conceived, the transgression can be figured out as a gesture that, by crossing the genre limits, not only reconfigure the way the narrative of Saer and Piglia could be read, but also rethink the crime fiction as a genre and the relations of both authors with the cultural context in which they develop their works.

Orientador: Miriam Viviana Gárate / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T06:11:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Carpentieri_LiviaOliveiraBezerradaCosta_M.pdf: 2659344 bytes, checksum: a9f6481b9bcb771adf58c1039525afb9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: O filme Un Oso Rojo, do diretor Israel Adrián Caetano, utiliza em seu roteiro a fábula "Las medias de los flamencos", de Horacio Quiroga, texto que integra a coletânea infanto-juvenil Cuentos de la selva. O protagonista e o enredo do conto são relacionados na obra cinematográfica em várias cenas. Isso permite estabelecer uma comparação entre as relações sociais retratadas nas duas obras, de modo realista no filme, e de forma alegórica no conto. A proposta deste trabalho é analisar como as duas obras artísticas dialogam / Abstract: The film Un Oso Rojo, directed by Israel Adrián Caetano, mentions the fable "Las medias de los flamencos", written by Horacio Quiroga, which integrates the juvenil colection "Cuentos de los flamencos", in its script. The main character of the film and the story of the fable are connected in several scenes of the movie. This allows a comparison between the social relationships portrayed in the two works, realistically in the film and allegorically in the fable. The purpose of this paper is to analyze how the two art works dialogue / Mestrado / Literatura Geral e Comparada / Mestra em Teoria e História Literária

(in English): The aim of this work is to analyse selected short stories of the Argentinian writer Silvina Ocampo, which combines the element of violence, cruelty and crime. The work is focused on the original elements of fantastic, which are often referred to as "fantastic everyday life" and puts it in connection with the motive of violence and the presence of crime. In the introduction, it summarizes the author's work and outlines the concept of modern fantasy and its difference from the traditional form. It briefly introduces the concepts of violence and cruelty from the perspective of literature, philosophy and psychology. The short stories selected for analysis are based on the short story sets Viaje olvidado, Autobiografía de Irene, La furia and Las invitadas. A detailed analysis of short stories aims to examine the motive for violence in relation to fantasy and childhood elements. It examines child characters, perpetrators and victims of violence, which takes place in a fantastic setting. In the end, it compares the tools of fantasy construction such as metamorphosis, duality or elements of irony.

Ce mémoire de maîtrise a pour visée d’étudier la spécificité antiautoritaire du discours narratif de l’écrivaine argentine Luisa Valenzuela. Le corpus étudié comprend des nouvelles publiées dans les livres Cambio de armas (1982) et Simetrías (1993), écrites respectivement durant la dictature militaire (1976-1983) et dix ans après le retour à la démocratie. L’analyse des nouvelles dialogue avec l’essai de l’écrivaine, Peligrosas palabras (2001), et avec les différentes perspectives théoriques que nous adoptons dans chacun des chapitres (sociolinguistique, théorie féministe et critique culturelle). Cette recherche fera ressortir comment l’expression du désir dans les textes de Luisa Valenzuela critique les relations de domination présentes dans la dictature et dans la société patriarcale. Les textes étudiés 1) dénoncent les effets de la politique répressive sur le sujet en exposant la sexualité et en rejetant la séparation entre les sphères publique et privée; 2) ils soulignent la matérialité du corps, qui est marqué par les relations sociales et les rapports de pouvoir, à partir de laquelle il est possible de construire une objectivité féminine hors de l’opposition entre corps et esprit; 3) ils créent de nouvelles formes de représentation de la mémoire qui permettent de redéfinir la relation à l’histoire et à l’Autre. Dans le langage de Valenzuela, le désir se présente alors comme une revendication de relations sociales justes et d’une vision alternative du langage, de la subjectivité et de la mémoire. / This thesis studies the antiauthoritarian specificity of the short stories that Luisa Valenzuela published in the Cambio de armas (1982) and Simetrías (1993), written during the military dictatorship (1976-1983), and ten years after the return to dictatorship. The analysis of the stories establishes a dialogue with Valenzuela’s essay Peligrosas palabras (2001) and with different theoretical perspectives that we study in each chapter (socio-linguistic, feminist theory, and cultural criticism). This study emphasizes how the expression of desire, in Valenzuela’s work, criticizes the relations of domination that appear during the dictatorship and in the patriarchal society. The short stories 1) denounce the effects of repression on the subject trough open sexuality and a rejection of the public-private division: 2) underline the materiality of the body, marked by social and power relations, allowing for the creation of a feminine objectivity without separating the body from the mind; 3) create new ways of representing memory, allowing for a redefinition of the relations to history and to the other. In Valenzuela’s discourse, desire is presented as a demand for equality in social relationships, and for an alternative vision of language, subjectivity, and memory. / Esta memoria tiene como objetivo estudiar la especificidad antiautoritaria de la narrativa breve de la escritora argentina Luisa Valenzuela. El corpus estudiado consta de cuentos provenientes de los libros Cambio de armas (1982) y Simetrías (1993), escritos respectivamente durante la dictadura militar (1976-1983) y diez años después de la vuelta a la democracia. El análisis de los cuentos entra en diálogo con el ensayo de la autora, Peligrosas palabras (2001), y con las diferentes perspectivas teóricas que adoptamos en cada capítulo (socio-lingüística, teoría feminista y crítica cultural). Esta investigación destaca cómo la expresión del deseo en los textos de Valenzuela construye una crítica de las relaciones de dominación presentes tanto en la dictadura como en la sociedad patriarcal. Los cuentos 1) denuncian los efectos de la política represiva sobre el sujeto al exponer la sexualidad y al rechazar la separación de los ámbitos privados y públicos; 2) subrayan la materialidad del cuerpo marcado por las relaciones sociales y las fuerzas del poder, a partir de la cual se construye una objetividad femenina que no separa la mente del cuerpo; 3) crean nuevas formas de representar la memoria, permitiendo redefinir la relación con la historia y con el otro. El deseo se presenta, en la obra de Valenzuela, como una reivindicación de relaciones sociales equitativas y de una visión alternativa del lenguaje, la subjetividad y la memoria.

While current scholarship acknowledges the influence of Buddhist ideas on Julio Cortázar’s fiction, critical analysis of this element of his work does not often engage in depth with Buddhist thought. Buddhism is frequently characterised as something mystical or mythical when read in relation to the works of Cortázar. This approach leads to an insufficient reading of the highly important notion of the ‘centro’ in Rayuela (1963), whose symbolism, evoking a dynamic equilibrium, may be more successfully explored with closer reference to Buddhist philosophy. The Argentine author Marcelo Cohen has also engaged with Buddhist ideas in his works; his Buda (1990), a biography of the historical Buddha, testifies to this interest. Again, however, this aspect has not received full attention in critical scholarship. Given the importance of the use of negation in Cohen’s literature, comparing Cohen with Buddhist philosophy can enrich our understanding of many aspects of his works, such as his treatment of relationality. I have chosen to compare both Argentine authors with the Indian Buddhist philosopher Nāgārjuna, who is considered the founder of the Madhyamaka school, which is particularly associated with the theory of ‘emptiness’ (‘śūnyatā’). Nāgārjuna’s philosophy is cited directly in Cortázar’s poem ‘Canción de Gautama’ and Cohen’s Buda and informs a number of these writers’ other texts. The main body of the thesis is divided into three sections. These examine the triadic relation between time, identity and language, with each section focusing more on one of these three aspects in turn. The three chapters and three authors will be drawn together to form a new reading of the role of negation.

Ce mémoire de maîtrise a pour visée d’étudier la spécificité antiautoritaire du discours narratif de l’écrivaine argentine Luisa Valenzuela. Le corpus étudié comprend des nouvelles publiées dans les livres Cambio de armas (1982) et Simetrías (1993), écrites respectivement durant la dictature militaire (1976-1983) et dix ans après le retour à la démocratie. L’analyse des nouvelles dialogue avec l’essai de l’écrivaine, Peligrosas palabras (2001), et avec les différentes perspectives théoriques que nous adoptons dans chacun des chapitres (sociolinguistique, théorie féministe et critique culturelle). Cette recherche fera ressortir comment l’expression du désir dans les textes de Luisa Valenzuela critique les relations de domination présentes dans la dictature et dans la société patriarcale. Les textes étudiés 1) dénoncent les effets de la politique répressive sur le sujet en exposant la sexualité et en rejetant la séparation entre les sphères publique et privée; 2) ils soulignent la matérialité du corps, qui est marqué par les relations sociales et les rapports de pouvoir, à partir de laquelle il est possible de construire une objectivité féminine hors de l’opposition entre corps et esprit; 3) ils créent de nouvelles formes de représentation de la mémoire qui permettent de redéfinir la relation à l’histoire et à l’Autre. Dans le langage de Valenzuela, le désir se présente alors comme une revendication de relations sociales justes et d’une vision alternative du langage, de la subjectivité et de la mémoire. / This thesis studies the antiauthoritarian specificity of the short stories that Luisa Valenzuela published in the Cambio de armas (1982) and Simetrías (1993), written during the military dictatorship (1976-1983), and ten years after the return to dictatorship. The analysis of the stories establishes a dialogue with Valenzuela’s essay Peligrosas palabras (2001) and with different theoretical perspectives that we study in each chapter (socio-linguistic, feminist theory, and cultural criticism). This study emphasizes how the expression of desire, in Valenzuela’s work, criticizes the relations of domination that appear during the dictatorship and in the patriarchal society. The short stories 1) denounce the effects of repression on the subject trough open sexuality and a rejection of the public-private division: 2) underline the materiality of the body, marked by social and power relations, allowing for the creation of a feminine objectivity without separating the body from the mind; 3) create new ways of representing memory, allowing for a redefinition of the relations to history and to the other. In Valenzuela’s discourse, desire is presented as a demand for equality in social relationships, and for an alternative vision of language, subjectivity, and memory. / Esta memoria tiene como objetivo estudiar la especificidad antiautoritaria de la narrativa breve de la escritora argentina Luisa Valenzuela. El corpus estudiado consta de cuentos provenientes de los libros Cambio de armas (1982) y Simetrías (1993), escritos respectivamente durante la dictadura militar (1976-1983) y diez años después de la vuelta a la democracia. El análisis de los cuentos entra en diálogo con el ensayo de la autora, Peligrosas palabras (2001), y con las diferentes perspectivas teóricas que adoptamos en cada capítulo (socio-lingüística, teoría feminista y crítica cultural). Esta investigación destaca cómo la expresión del deseo en los textos de Valenzuela construye una crítica de las relaciones de dominación presentes tanto en la dictadura como en la sociedad patriarcal. Los cuentos 1) denuncian los efectos de la política represiva sobre el sujeto al exponer la sexualidad y al rechazar la separación de los ámbitos privados y públicos; 2) subrayan la materialidad del cuerpo marcado por las relaciones sociales y las fuerzas del poder, a partir de la cual se construye una objetividad femenina que no separa la mente del cuerpo; 3) crean nuevas formas de representar la memoria, permitiendo redefinir la relación con la historia y con el otro. El deseo se presenta, en la obra de Valenzuela, como una reivindicación de relaciones sociales equitativas y de una visión alternativa del lenguaje, la subjetividad y la memoria.

Orientador: Miriam Viviana Garate / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-15T01:59:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alves_FernandaAndradedoNascimento_M.pdf: 1216703 bytes, checksum: 4c357b667d8c2b8b85de2aab513db830 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: O presente estudo está pautado pela possibilidade de leitura da obra cortazariana com base em um aspecto relevante de sua trajetória: a dedicação não apenas à ficção, mas também à crítica. Partindo da poética de Cortázar acerca do conto, surgem algumas metáforas e comparações para definir o gênero e para tratar do ato de narrar. Essas metáforas têm diversas entonações ao longo da obra, configurando não apenas uma recorrência temática que atravessa textos ensaísticos e narrativos, mas também uma contaminação dos registros ficcional e crítico. As referências à fotografia e ao jazz, como parâmetros para a construção literária, são temas de reflexão em ensaios que assumem alguns traços ficcionais e são motivos narrativos em contos perpassados pela dimensão crítica. Os contos assumem o discurso crítico dentro de sua própria estrutura, questionando o ato de narrar; os ensaios, muitas vezes, têm a estratégia argumentativa baseada na constituição de uma imagem e no recurso ao anedótico; os textos que compõem os livros-almanaque transitam entre a ficção, o autobiográfico e o ensaístico. Desse modo, a comparação entre conto e fotografia, discutida em "Algunos aspectos del cuento" (1962), já havia sido ficcionalizada no conto "Las babas del diablo" (1959) e é retomada em "Apocalipsis de Solentiname" (1977) e em "Ventanas a lo insólito (1978); a busca por uma linguagem desautomatizada, proposta no ensaio "Para una poética" (1954), é trabalhada em "Las babas del diablo" e em "Diario para un cuento" (1982); o princípio analógico explicitado em "Para una poética" culmina no conceito de figura - uma nova forma de percepção da realidade e um efeito buscado nos contos -, retomado em "Cristal con una rosa dentro" (1969), texto cujo gênero é difícil definir e que compõe um dos livrosalmanaque cortazarianos; os "takes", propostos em "Melancolía de las maletas" (1967) como parâmetro para a literatura, parecem definir o movimento narrativo de "Las babas del diablo" e de "Diario para un cuento". / Abstract: This work aims at identifying the reading possibilities in Cortázar's works, based on an important aspect of the author?s path: his commitment not only to fiction, but also to literary criticism. From Cortázar's poetics regarding short stories, it is possible to identify metaphors and similes created in order to define the literary genre and to address the narrative act. Such metaphors assume several intonations throughout the author's work, configuring not only the recurrence of themes which is present in essays and narratives, but also the traces of contamination of fictional writings and critiques. The references to photography and to jazz as parameters for the literary construction are the object of analysis in essays that assume some fictional traces and constitute narrative motifs in short stories which span the dimension of criticism. Cortázar's short novels assume the critical discourse in its own structure, questioning the narrative act; the essays, many times, adopt an argumentative strategy based on the constitution of an image and resort to the anecdotal; the texts that compose the "almanac" books shift between fiction, autobiography and essay. Therefore, the comparison between short story and photography, which is discussed in "Algunos aspectos del cuento" (1962), had already been turned into fiction in the short story entitled "Las babas del diablo" (1959) and is discussed again in "Apocalipsis de Solentiname" (1977) and in "Ventanas a lo insólito" (1978); in "Las babas Del diablo" and "Diário para um cuento", Cortázar is in the quest for a language that is not automated, and such quest is also present in the essay "Para una poética" (1954); the analogy principle shown in "Para una poética" reaches its highest point with the concept of figure - a new form of perception of reality and effect which Cortázar looks for in his short stories -, which is recurrent in "Cristal con una rosa dentro" (1969), a text whose genre cannot be easily defined and that is part of one of Cortázar's "almanac" books; the "takes" proposed in "Melancolía de las maletas" (1967) as literary parameter seem to establish the narrative movement in "Las babas del diablo" and "Diario para un cuento". / Mestrado / Teoria e Critica Literaria / Mestre em Teoria e História Literária

Cette thèse étudie les notions de géographie imaginaire et de sociologie fantastique dans l’œuvre de Marcelo Cohen (Buenos Aires, 1951). Le corpus de travail comprend l’ensemble de la production de fiction narrative de l’auteur (contes, nouvelles et romans en une vingtaine d’ouvrages) entre son premier recueil de récits, Lo que queda (1972), et son roman Balada (2011). La thèse est organisée en trois parties : la première (« Marcelo Cohen et son œuvre. Perspectives théoriques et méthodologiques ») propose une présentation de l’auteur et de son œuvre et un bilan théorique et pratique des notions de géographie imaginaire et de sociologie fantastique ; la deuxième (« Écrire l’espace ») analyse la construction de l’espace dans le corpus choisi dans une double démarche chronologique et figurative ; la troisième (« Littérature et société ») se penche sur les manifestations des dimensions idéologiques, sociales et politiques, et sur les relations entre l’individu et la société dans les ouvrages de Marcelo Cohen. Le travail s’achève par une réflexion globale sur la poétique et l’esthétique de l’auteur argentin. / This thesis considers such concepts as fictional Geography and fantastic Sociology in Marcelo Cohen’s work (Buenos Aires, 1951).The body of this research includes all the narrative fiction by this author (some twenty tales, short stories and novels in total), between his first collection of stories, Lo que queda (1972), and his novel Balada (2011).Our thesis develops three domains : the first one (« Marcelo Cohen and his work, a theoretical and methodological outlook ») introduces the author and his work, along with a theoretical and practical evaluation of such concepts as fictional Geography and fantastic Sociology ; the second one (« Space in writing ») analyzes the make of space in the selected books, in a dual approach : both chronological and representational ; the last one (« Literature and society ») addresses the expressions of ideological, sociological and political dimensions, plus the relationship between a particular person and his/her society in Marcelo Cohen’s works. This research ends with a global consideration of poetry and estheticism in the work of our Argentinean author.

La problématique de cette thèse se centre sur la manière dont plusieurs textes de fiction, évoquant des événements emblématiques des années 1976-2001, représentent la loi à travers ses effets discursifs. Lors de l’analyse des effets discursifs de la représentation de la loi dans les textes de fiction certaines questions s’imposent : de quelle manière le discours littéraire configure-t-il les frontières entre l’espace public et l’espace privé, caractérise les espaces rendus visibles ou invisibles, fait apparaître les énoncés refoulés, décrit les individus auxquels il confère la légitimité d'exercer le pouvoir et ceux qui s'y trouvent marginalisés ou définis en tant que criminels. Tous ces éléments sont les effets discursifs de la loi qui non seulement la représentent mais dénotent les intérêts qui l'ont dictée. Nous centrons notre étude sur la représentation de la loi qui dicte la limite interne de l’État évoquée par Michel Foucault dans son concept de biopolitique. Nous analysons différents romans qui abordent les moments les plus représentatifs de la période de notre recherche : la répression militaire, la guerre des Malouines, le retour à la démocratie, l’instauration du néolibéralisme et enfin la crise de 2001. Les romans de Daniel Moyano, El vuelo del tigre, de Rodolfo Fogwill, Los pichiciegos, de Juan Martini, El fantasma imperfecto, de Claudia Piñeiro, Las viudas de los jueves, de Juan Martini, Colonia, et de Pedro Mairal, El año del desierto, guident notre recherche car ils représentent, à travers ses effets discursifs, l’exception de la loi en place. Sur le plan théorique, les conceptualisations de Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben et Andrea Cavalletti sur la violence, la biopolitique, l’état d’exception et la sécurité nous permettent d’analyser le lien entre le texte littéraire et le moment historique. / The central issue of this dissertation focuses on the manner in which several fictional texts, evoking events emblematic of the years 1976-2001, represent the law through their discursive effects. In the process of analyzing the discursive effects of the representation of the law in these fictional texts, certain questions must be posed: in which way does literary discourse configure the borders between public and private space, how does it characterize the spaces made visible or invisible, bring repressed statements to the surface, describe the individuals to whom it bestows the right to exercise power and those who there find themselves marginalized or defined as criminals. All of these elements are the discursive effects of the law that not only represent the law, but also denote the interests that have dictated it. We are centering our study on the representation of the law that dictates the internal boundary of the State evoked by Michel Foucault in his concept of biopolitics. We will analyze different novels that address the most representative moments of the period of our research: the military repression, the Falklands War, the return to democracy, the establishment of neoliberalism and finally the crisis of 2001. The novels of Daniel Moyano, El vuelo del tigre, Rodolfo Fogwill, Los pichiciegos, Juan Martini, El fantasma imperfect, Claudia Piñeiro, Las viudas de los jueves, Juan Martini, Colonia, and Pedro Mairal, El año del desierto, will guide our research since they represent, through their discursive effects, the exception to the law in place. The theoretical ideas of Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault, Giorgio Agamben and Andrea Cavalletti regarding violence, biopolitics, the state of exception, and security will allow us to analyze the relationship between literary text and historical moment.

Whereas contemporary debates in Latin American studies addressing sovereignty often focus on dictatorships and the transitions to democratic governments in Latin America in the late twentieth century, Sovereignties Displaced: Avant-Garde Prose and Authoritarianism in Spain, Chile, and Argentina (1923-1936) adopts a transatlantic framework and directs critical attention to the cultural production of the interwar period. The historical and cultural events preceding and following 1929 are connected to World War I, the political crisis of democratic systems, and the global socioeconomic instability of the period. The three countries studied in the present work would be affected by these conditions, sharing an almost synchronic development of the authoritarian governments of Miguel Primo de Rivera in Spain (1923-1930), of Carlos Ibáñez del Campo in Chile (1927-1931), and José Félix Uriburu in Argentina (1930-1932). Additionally, the rise of authoritarianism and the decay of parliamentary institutions characterizing this epoch condition and inscribe the political essays and avant-garde novels composed by the intellectuals and writers analyzed in this study: from Spain, María Zambrano (1904-1991), Ramón Gómez de la Serna (1888-1963), and Benjamín Jarnés (1888-1949); from Chile, Alberto Edwards Vives (1874-1932), Juan Emar (1893-1964), and Vicente Huidobro (1893-1948); and from Argentina, Ramón Doll (1896-1970), Norah Lange (1905-1972), and Roberto Arlt (1900-1942). It should be noted that while considering national circumstances, my argumentation is divided into sections organized not by country, but rather by subject matter: a methodological and theoretical introduction, three analytical chapters, and concluding remarks. Established critical assessments of the avant-gardes, as offered by experts like Renato Poggioli (1907-1963), have underscored that democratic forms of government would provide the initial conditions of possibility of the historical avant-gardes. Other scholars, however, have recognized the interdependency of early twentieth century artistic discourses, revolutionary ideas, and authoritarianism. Informed by the theorization of sovereignty and democracy of Jacques Derrida (1930-2004), and the concept of community of Roberto Esposito (1950-), my research examines, in political essays and vanguard novels, the opposition of individual vis-à-vis collective forms of rule. The texts of my corpus manifest a recurrent concern relating to the tension between self-rule and collective-rule, a dynamic which organizes and destabilizes avant-garde formations themselves. Consequently, I analyze the philosophical and political ramifications of these authors’ defense, negation, or destabilization of the individual-collective opposition in the context of the deterioration of parliamentarism. In my first chapter, I examine the following essays that represent a range of political positions from the interwar years: Horizonte del liberalismo (1930) by María Zambrano, Liberalismo en la literatura y la política (Con una segunda edición de: “Democracia mal menor”) (1934, n/d) by Ramón Doll, and La fronda aristocrática en Chile (1928) by Alberto Edwards Vives. Framed by the sociological assessments of José Ortega y Gasset in La rebelión de las masas (1930), this chapter considers these essayists’ observations regarding mass politics and the role of political and economic elites. I foreground the ethical problems relating to these authors’ conceptions of the human subject and their concomitant formulations of governance, deriving from various ideological orientations. The essayists’ comparable anxieties regarding the limits of democratic politics reveal the complexities of the period and serve as a springboard for the subsequent chapters that study the politics of avant-garde novels. In my second chapter, shifting from essayistic discourse to vanguard fiction, I analyze philosophical oppositions central to the configuration of sovereignty, and to the theory and practice of democracy. These tensions organize various components of the following novels: Un año (1935) by Juan Emar (pseudonym of Álvaro Yáñez Bianchi), 45 días y 30 marineros (1933) by Norah Lange, and El caballero del hongo gris (1928) by Ramón Gómez de la Serna. I demonstrate that, although these narratives do not contain explicit references to the emergence of authoritarianism and the erosion of parliamentarism of the period, these narratives are structured by problems that have implications for a thinking of issues relating to sovereignty and democracy. These novels similarly present how individuals interact with groups, such that it becomes imperative to consider the political consequences of these relations in order to critique, for example, fraternalistic and nationalistic notions of political filiation. My final chapter studies the narrative presentations of radical political projects that aim to restructure society in Los siete locos (1929) by Roberto Arlt, La próxima (1934) by Vicente Huidobro, and Lo rojo y lo azul (1932) by Benjamín Jarnés. In contrast to the narratives included in the second chapter, these avant-garde novels establish an explicit dialogue with the conditions of crisis of the interwar years. From insurrections and utopian settlements, to revolutionary military revolts, these narrations depict small vanguard groups that propose various plots that seek to radically reshape the social order. Even though poetry is often positioned as the paradigmatic form of vanguard literary expression, my research theorizes the understudied phenomenon of Hispanic avant-garde prose. In particular, I account for the variation among avant-garde novels of the period, by sustaining that there are gradations of vanguard narrative depending on different factors that range from the transparency or opacity of linguistic expression, to the organization of the narrative material. In this sense, some novels considered vanguardist, while approaching a certain radicality in terms of language and form, may incorporate elements of the realist-naturalist novelistic tradition. Likewise, I assert the importance of attending to the varied uses of meta-reflexive procedures in Hispanic vanguard prose. Given their implicit and explicit interaction with contemporary historical conditions and political and artistic discourses of the 1920s and 1930s, I contend that the essays and avant-garde novels analyzed offer a fertile ground to examine the nature of sovereignty, while also presenting, in some crucial instances, potential images of what a democracy worthy of this name could look like. / Spanish