Gauchos and Foreigners: Glossing Culture and Identity in the Argentina Countryside
Ariana Huberman
2013, Lexington Books
145 pages
IT IS nothing but academically healthy to test myths while retaining respect for their intoxicating power. Ariana Huberman’s great little book, Gauchos and Foreigners, does precisely that, highlighting how the national icon that enjoyed near mythical status in Argentina and Uruguay was actually as much a product of intercultural perspectives – from English scientitsts and travellers and Italian and Jewish immigrants – as a fixed essence. By analysing the gaucho in novels by “foreign” authors, she provides a valuable contribution to knowledge of the textual strategies of cultural interchange.
