An “Antimodern” Modernity
The Problem of Style in Nicolás Gómez Dávila and Octavio Paz
Abstract
The article aims to show that style as a political problem is one of the conditions of possibility to understand the reactionary ethos of Latin American modernity. The conjecture is that Latin American modernity is a diachronic time that maintains a liberal time in tension with reactionary time, reason enough to suggest that the style of “antimoderns” allows to understand some the problems of Latin American aesthetic-political formation. Therefore, the article is divided into three parts. The first discusses style as an ethical problem, rather than aesthetic or rhetorical. The second postulates the notion of style and its gnostic traits in the Colombian Nicolás Gómez Dávila. Finally, the article closes with a discussion of Octavio Paz's style concept to show how an intellectual who defines himself as a liberal can share a reactionary style as a symptom of an epochal ethos.
Downloads
Article download
Crossmark
License
In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Res Publica. Revista de Historia de las Ideas Políticas is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.
