Raimondi-Vignoli-Cristina. Poetic Activism in Contemporary Argentina

Abstract

After the emergence in Argentine in the 1980s of neobarroco or neobaroque poetry, and in the 1990s of a contrasting objetivista or objectivist aesthetic, commentators have written of “Boom” in poetry in the 2000s, the emergence or successful re-launching of young writers, notable anthologies, and new independent publishers. Many groups and poets use poetry as an integral part of their political activism. However, the aesthetic effects of such activist positions have not, I feel, been studied closely. The question that seldom addressed is whether there is coherence between the aesthetics and politics of such activist projects. Sergio Raimondi's collection Poesía civil, published in 2001, in some respects, marked the culmination of objetivista poetry, but also set a marker for much poetry of the 2000s. Firstly, it was an eminently literary work, with references to Shelley, Keats, Dante, the English metaphysical poets, among others, and poems written in an epic form of long, measured lines with occasional rhyme. Secondly, it is metapoetic, reflecting on questions related to the status and role of poetry, in particular its social role; Gramsci, Brecht and Valèry are all referenced and engaged. Thirdly, it is closely linked to Raimondi's cultural and community work at the Museo del Puerto. As such, this paper sets out to use Raimondi's work as a case study of contemporary poetic activism, but also of the tasks and possibilities of today's Latin American Cultural Studies.