The self of the city

"Macedonio Fernandez (1874-1952) is widely regarded as a key figure in Argentine letters - mentor to Jorge Luis Borges, precursor of the avant-garde, and father of the Martinfierrista generation. Yet critics have persisted in viewing Macedonio's writing as asystematic, irreducible beyond its characteristic paradoxes, and unrelated to the social, political, and poetic context of modernity. Much of Macedonio's mythic reputation rests on a legend that privileges his brilliant conversation and iconoclastic lifestyle over his writing." "The Self of the City shows Macedonio's work to be a highly systematic effort to "save the city" from the ills of modernity. Responding directly to the context of early twentieth-century Buenos Aires, Macedonio rejects modern culture as inherently paradoxical and pernicious, hinging on the unsustainable fallacy of Descartes' autonomous self." "Todd S. Garth dismantles the myth of Macedonio, exposing the role of the Martinfierristas and Borges in fashioning an image of Macedonio contradictory to his intentions. Macedonio's supposed deprecation of his own writing and his detachment from contemporary aesthetic, political, and philosophical movements are reconsidered in light of the evidence from his own writings. In contrast, The Self of the City examines concrete ways that Macedonio attempts to undo specific discourses of modernity, realizing his radical vision without imposing an authorial self on an objectified public."--Jacket.