Decadent Modernity

Michela Coletta is Assistant Professor in Hispanic Studies at the University of Warwick and Associate Fellow of the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London.

Reviews'This strikingly original book analyses how intellectuals in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay explored the concept of degeneration as inherent within their emerging modern nations. In this interpretation, the Latinity of Latin America is seen not as the wellspring of civilisation but as a source of over refined decadence. Thus there is a paradox at the heart of their nations whose development was based on widespread immigration from southern Europe: that progress and modernisation were inextricably bound up with Latin decadence and degeneration. Ways out of this dilemma were found by promoting different forms of regeneration. Based on a vast range of primary and secondary sources, theoretically informed, elegantly structured and fluently written, this comparative study offers a fresh and very substantial contribution to our understanding of the processes of modernity and modernisation in Latin America.' John King, University of Warwick

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSINTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 1: ‘Raza Latina: Immigration and Decadence at the Fin-de-Siècle’1.1 ‘Introduction: Race and Nation in the Southern Cone’1.2 ‘Uruguay: Antieuropeísmo and Tradition’1.3 ‘Immigration and Civilization in Argentina’1.4 ‘Raza Latina and Raza Chilena’1.5 ConclusionCHAPTER 2: ‘Mythologising the Internal Other: Rural Tradition as Antidote to Modern Civilization’2.1 ‘Introduction: Literary Criollismos and National Culture’2.2 ‘Argentina and Uruguay: The Raza Vencida’2.3 ‘The Gaucho Oriental: Tratado de la Imbecilidad del País’2.4 ‘Chile: Geografía Humanizada’2.5 ConclusionCHAPTER 3: ‘National Regeneration and the Education of the Latin American Elites’3.1 ‘Introduction: Education vis-à-vis Racial and Cultural Determinism’3.2 ‘Krausismo and the Escuela Nueva: Two Models of Education3.3 ‘Intellectual Education versus Practical Education’3.4 ‘National Language and Education in the River Plate’3.5 ConclusionCHAPTER 4: ‘Against the Poetics of Decadence: Latin America and the Aesthetics of Regeneration’4.1 ‘Introduction: The Sociology of Art in the Southern Cone’4.2 ‘José Enrique Rodó and Rubén Darío’4.3 ‘Ariel and Aesthetic Education’4.4 ‘Arielismo and the Politics of Aesthetics’4.5 ConclusionCONCLUSIONBIBLIOGRAPHYINDEX