Literature

Argentina has a rich literary heritage and one of the most active publishing companies in the region. Since the 1850s, when Argentina became a completely united entity with a strong constitution and a determined nation-building plan, Argentine writers have played a key role in Latin American literature. The conflict between the Federalists and the Unitarians set the tone for contemporary Argentine writing.

The ideological contrast between José Hernández's gaucho epic Martn Fierro and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento's Facundo is a great example. Hernández, a federalist, was opposed to centralization, modernization, and Europeanization. Sarmiento argued that immigration was the only way to prevent Argentina from falling under the dominion of a small number of dictatorial caudillo families, saying that such immigrants would make Argentina more modern and open to Western European ideas, and thus a more wealthy country.

Argentina's literature during the time was fervently nationalist. It was followed by the modernist movement, which originated in France in the late nineteenth century, and vanguardism, with Ricardo Güiraldes as an essential reference. In metaphor and philosophical argument, its most acclaimed writer, Jorge Luis Borges, created new ways of looking at the modern world, and his impact has stretched to writers all over the world. Borges is best known for his short story collections Ficciones and The Aleph.