Abstract

This dissertation approaches Cambaceres' novels as precursors of the modern Latin American novel and establishes their similarities with the Argentine Novel. Prior studies of these novels have most often analyzed their function as expressions of Naturalism in writers of the Argentine Generation of 1880. This thesis proposes a new reading of Cambaceres' works as pre-figurations of the contemporary Latin American novel. The analysis concentrates on the narrative innovations of Pot-Pourri, Musica sentimental and Sin rumbo with special reference to language, the concept of character, the social and philosophical dimensions of experience, and the temporal and spatial organization of the discourse. Cambaceres' unique approach is based on the demystification of the narrative of 1880. His intentional subversion of the traditional order of narrative is linked to the disorder and social turmoil in the Argentina of 1885. This manifestation on the level of discourse exemplifies the crisis caused by the constant changes in Argentina after 1852, the collapse of the old oligarchy and the rise of the bourgeoise. The dichotomy of "Civilization and Barbarism", defined in 1845 by Domingo F. Sarmiento as the key to the Argentine social and political dynamic, acquires different formulations in the works of Cambaceres, which link them to the contemporary Argentine novel. Cambaceres captures the impact of the accelerated process on the old criollo by creating a character out of place in his own society, and in search of definition of Self which finally transcends the national locus. The conflicted relationship that Cambaceres' characters have with their milieu, their constant sense of alienation and "angst", bear a significant resemblance to the Twentieth century existential dilemma of characters observed in the works of Argentine writers such as Arlt, Cortazar, Sabato, Puig. Cambaceres focuses on the sense of loss, the solitude in the face of death, the anguish, disillusionment of man in society through the characters' constant introspective process. Cambaceres defines discourse, time and space in terms of these fundamental issues. Cambaceres' narrative, then, reflects his modernity as a narrator, making him a creator of anti-heroes and one of the fathers of the novel in Argentina.