“Vamos, déjese querer”. Afecto, emociones y red en cartas de escritores rioplatenses (1837-1852)

Abstract

This article investigates the uses/gestures of affect and the dynamics of the “emotional community” (Rosenwein) in forty letters —included in the Archivo del Dr. Juan María Gutiérrez— written by some of the Romantic intellectuals from the known “Generación de 1837” during their exiles (1837-1852). Taking into account some theoretical notions from the so-called “affective turn” (Ahmed, Rosenwein, Arfuch, Macón, Peluffo), and considering as well the concept of intellectual net (Maíz, Fernández Bravo), this paper analyzes which sentiments have become prestigious within this group and which roles, within a dynamic and systemic notion of the “emotional community”, have been occupied by these members. The construction of certain homo-erotic alliances, the expression of nostalgia as something aesthetic, and the reciprocal control among these intellectuals are some of the recurrences that can be read in these pieces of intimate but social writing. Although composed by famous Romantic writers from this period (such as Juan María Gutiérrez, Esteban Echeverría, José Mármol, Domingo F. Sarmiento), these letters have received only few critical readings so far.