The first Sartre and the Generation of '45. Atmosphere and existentialist literature in Uruguayan cultural magazines (1945-1952

Abstract

This article deals with the reception of Jean-Paul Sartre's work in the Uruguayan cultural field between 1945 and 1952 through its circulation in translations, bibliographical reviews and interpretation essays published in magazines operated by authors of the Generation of '45. We begin by analyzing the factors that influenced the reception of Sartrean existentialism as a sign of the immediate postwar period and a phenomenon of intellectual latency of regional character, to then reconstruct the channels of circulation and the contribution of literary critics in the first readings of the figure and work of the French intellectual. The analysis of newspapers and cultural magazines allows us to reveal a first reception of Sartre as an expansive wave, strongly literary and immersed in the existentialist atmosphere, and one that we can differentiate from his later political reception. The work also sheds light on the discursive and critical operations around Sartre and the processes of intellectual validation among Uruguayan critics from the defense of a direct approach to the original works in French; the ability to differentiate the existentialist phenomenon of fashion from the Sartrean intellectual background and a critical review of the Sartrean reception as a differentiating element among intellectuals.