Next Thursday, March 27 at 7 pm, the Embassy of Uruguay presents in the Miguel de Cervantes Room of Casa América the book La antigua escritura de un palimpsesto. Los cuadernos desconocidos de Rodó (The ancient writing of a palimpsest. The unknown notebooks of Rodó), by Elena Romiti. Free entry until capacity is complete.
Among the preparatory materials and manuscript drafts of the Proteus Cycle, in the José Enrique Rodó Archive, there are eleven unpublished notebooks. They allow to open new paths in the investigation of Rodó’s work and discover aspects never considered until now by the literary criticism dedicated to the subject. The reading of these unknown texts confirm the fulfillment of Rodo’s design, who thought of Proteus as a book in perpetual “becoming”.
The National Library of Uruguay recently completed the publication of the digital version and transcription of the eleven notebooks; a hard work carried out by a team of researchers led by the author of the book, It is the first time that the materials referred to have been studied in depth.
The importance of the publication and transcription of the preparatory notebooks for the Proteus Cycle exceeds the scope of research of the work that is produced because they also allow to study the genesis process of writing and the Rodonian episteme, while the characteristics that illuminate the way of producing knowledge and literature of ideas in Latin America. It also turns out to be an excellent porch for entering the study of the type of the Latin American intellectual, within which Rodó was an indisputable example.
During the presentation, Moisés Morera, director of programming at Casa de América, and Ana Teresa Ayala, ambassador of Uruguay, will say a few words of welcome. Francisco Javier Pérez, General Secretary of the Spanish Language Academies Association, and Elena Romiti Vinelli will then participate, Full professor of Didactics of Ibero-American Literature and Literature at the Instituto de Profesores Artigas and CLAEH University and author of the book.
