San Antonio de Areco hosts literary event honoring Ricardo Güiraldes

Writers and officials from the Academia Argentina de Letras gathered in San Antonio de Areco for an event dedicated to the life and work of Ricardo Güiraldes, specifically focusing on his seminal novel, ‘Don Segundo Sombra’. The meeting included remarks from San Antonio de Areco Mayor Francisco Ratto and the president of the Academia Argentina de Letras, Rafael Oteriño.

The discussions explored the literary nature of the work, contrasting Jorge Luis Borges’s definition of the novel as an ‘elegy’ with Güiraldes’s own description of it as a ‘tale’. The event also featured a comparative reading between ‘Don Segundo Sombra’ and ‘Don Quixote’.

‘Don Segundo Sombra’ is recognized as a foundational piece of Argentine literature that transitioned gaucho themes from poetry into prose. The novel has seen numerous editions and translations into languages including English, French, German, Japanese, and Russian. Its cultural impact was further cemented by Manuel Antin’s 1969 film adaptation, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.