Raúl González Tuñón in the land of the wind. Written chronicles and journalism in the trip to Patagonia

Abstract

The article analyses the journalistic chronicles (never edited for a book) published by the Argentine poet Raúl González Tuñón in the Crítica daily newspaper in 1932 as travelling correspondent to the Patagonia Austral. Aside from the explicit and utilitarian goals proposed by the daily for his journey (avoiding the isolation of the Patagonia region due to the removal of a national airline), we examine the complexity of the correspondent’s work to study the varied forms of enunciation in González Tuñón’s notes, the rewriting and the recourse to literary and cultural knowledge about this geographic area, the ideological and aesthetic selections in the design of the journey’s itinerary and in the forms of representation; as well as the denunciating interventions, with political and social content, that shape the Patagonia as a problematic region, scene to permanent union and labour crisis, and a land prone to workers’ conflict.