The sociology of literature in Argentina: A little of its history and some notes on its present

Abstract

This article traces the trajectory of the sociology of literature in Argentina and clarifies its possible distinction from the local sociology of culture. In order to justify this relative independence, my examination considers not only major authors and their works, but also the publication of translated foreign books, the development of teaching activities, and the organization of conferences, among other factors. I divide the description and analysis into five parts: ‘Backgrounds’, ‘In-translations’, ‘Foundations’, ‘Interruptions’ and ‘Re-emergences’. These do not necessarily claim to constitute the history of the sociology of literature in Argentina, but might function as key organizing principles for a unifying narrative of the sub-discipline and its oscillations over approximately three-quarters of a century, from the mid-1950s to the mid-2020s.