The reading thought in Argentinean critics: Juan Ritvo and Eduardo Grüner

Abstract

In this paper we propose an analysis of two cases that allow us to situate in 1985 a moment of true condensation of theorizations on reading in Argentina: we refer to the text "El ensayo, un género culpable" by Eduardo Grüner published in Sitio and to the inaugural lecture given by Juan Bautista Ritvo at the Universidad Nacional de Rosario regarding the creation of the chair Teoría de la lectura (Theory of Reading). In both episodes, references to the work of the French writer Maurice Blanchot are fundamental for the construction of the idea of "reading" that is developed there. In addition, we argue that these interventions in the framework of Argentine literary and cultural criticism can be understood as signs of what Paul de Man calls "resistance to theory". To demonstrate this, we include towards the end of the paper an analysis of the book La edad de la lectura published in 1992 by Juan Ritvo.