Carlos Mastronardi
Encyclopedia
Carlos Mastronardi was an Argentine
journalist, poet, and translator. His works included Luz de provincia, Tierra amanecida (1926), Conocimiento de la noche (1937), and Tratado de la pena. His non-fiction Valéry
o la infinitud del método (Valéry, or the infinitude of method) won the Buenos Aires
Municipal Prize for Literature (1955). Other important works of non-fiction included Formas de la realidad nacional (Forms of the National Reality, 1961) and Memorias de un Provinciano (Memoirs of a Man from the Provinces, 1967). Some of his journalism was published posthumously as Cuadernos de vivir y pensar (Notebooks of Living and Thinking, 1984).
As a translator, Mastronardi was mainly known for translating the French Symbolist poets into Spanish. As a poet, although identified personally with the avant-garde
of his time, he wrote largely in traditional forms rather than free verse, and rejected what he viewed as his contemporaries' excessive use of metaphor.
Born in Gualeguay
, Entre Ríos Province
, Mastronardi came to Buenos Aires at the age of 19. There he became a member of the Martín Fierro group (also known as the Florida group)
and an intimate of Jorge Luis Borges
, although they disagreed strongly about questions about aesthetics and poetry. Mastronardi figures as a minor character in Borges's short story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius
.
Mastronardi led a notoriously nocturnal existence. Writing of Mastronardi in 1986 in the newspaper El País (Madrid), Borges said of Mastronardi that "Like Auguste Dupin ...[ the detective character created by Edgar Allan Poe
] ... at night he went about the streets of Buenos Aires looking for that intellectual stimulus that only can be given by nighttime in a great city."
After a long period in which his work fell into obscurity, Mastronardi's works are being re-published by Argentina's Universidad Nacional del Litoral.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
journalist, poet, and translator. His works included Luz de provincia, Tierra amanecida (1926), Conocimiento de la noche (1937), and Tratado de la pena. His non-fiction Valéry
Paul Valéry
Ambroise-Paul-Toussaint-Jules Valéry was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. His interests were sufficiently broad that he can be classified as a polymath...
o la infinitud del método (Valéry, or the infinitude of method) won the Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
Municipal Prize for Literature (1955). Other important works of non-fiction included Formas de la realidad nacional (Forms of the National Reality, 1961) and Memorias de un Provinciano (Memoirs of a Man from the Provinces, 1967). Some of his journalism was published posthumously as Cuadernos de vivir y pensar (Notebooks of Living and Thinking, 1984).
As a translator, Mastronardi was mainly known for translating the French Symbolist poets into Spanish. As a poet, although identified personally with the avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
of his time, he wrote largely in traditional forms rather than free verse, and rejected what he viewed as his contemporaries' excessive use of metaphor.
Born in Gualeguay
Gualeguay, Entre Ríos
Gualeguay is a city in the province of Entre Ríos, Argentina, on the Gualeguay River, about 226 km from the provincial capital Paraná and 234 km north-west from Buenos Aires. It has a population of about 39,000 inhabitants as per the...
, Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos Province
Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....
, Mastronardi came to Buenos Aires at the age of 19. There he became a member of the Martín Fierro group (also known as the Florida group)
Florida group
The Florida group were a Buenos Aires-based avant-garde literary group in the 1920s, known for their embrace of "art for art's sake"...
and an intimate of Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo , known as Jorge Luis Borges , was an Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator born in Buenos Aires. In 1914 his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school, receiving his baccalauréat from the Collège de Genève in 1918. The family...
, although they disagreed strongly about questions about aesthetics and poetry. Mastronardi figures as a minor character in Borges's short story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius
"Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" is a short story by the 20th century Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. The story was first published in the Argentine journal Sur, May 1940. The "postscript" dated 1947 is intended to be anachronistic, set seven years in the future...
.
Mastronardi led a notoriously nocturnal existence. Writing of Mastronardi in 1986 in the newspaper El País (Madrid), Borges said of Mastronardi that "Like Auguste Dupin ...
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
After a long period in which his work fell into obscurity, Mastronardi's works are being re-published by Argentina's Universidad Nacional del Litoral.