LA FORMACIÓN LECTORA Y LA CULTURA LITERARIA DE DELMIRA AGUSTINI: UNA REIVINDICACIÓN NECESARIA

Abstract

Critics as Oribe (1930), Zum Felde (1944) or Alvar (1971) have systematically denied the literary culture of the Uruguayan poet Delmira Agustini and have insisted on the intuitive and irrational nature of her poetics, an opinion that, over the time that has elapsed since his death, has made it difficult for his work to be properly valued. However, the poet's own testimony and that of her relatives, as well as the existence of data that are in her manuscripts and in her correspondence, refute the theory of Delmira´s literary illiteracy and proves, on the other hand, that she avidly read not only the authors he deeply admired (Darío, Verlaine, Villaespesa, D´Annunzio, etc.), but also other minor writers with whom he shared the fin-de-siècle River Plate cultural scene.

Therefore, in this article we show the results of an investigation in which we have traced the books that were in the possession of Delmira Agustini, thus rebuilding the library she probably had at home, based on various sources, and taking the author´s Collection, which is kept in the Literary Archive of the National Library of Uruguay, as a starting point.