"A sect of two": Acerca de la correspondencia entre Ricardo Piglia y José Sazbón

Abstract

Peer-reviewed article

This article introduces seventeen unpublished letters between writer and
literary critic Ricardo Piglia (1940-2017) and philosopher José Sazbón (1937-
2008), which were sent between 1973 and 1985. Piglia and Sazbón met at
the University of La Plata in 1960, soon after they started their undergra-
duate degrees at this institution, after which they kept a close friendship
throughout almost four decades. The first three letters were sent in 1973
by Sazbón to Piglia, while the former was living in Paris. The remaining
letters were exchanged while Sazbón lived in Venezuela as a political exile.
Thirteen letters sent by Piglia to Sazbón and one sent by Sazbón to Piglia
are reproduced here. First, this article examines the biographies of these
two prominent intellectuals, tracing parallels between their careers. Se-
cond, the article contextualises the debates and issues conveyed in the le-
tters, namely the seclusion and self-censorship of intellectuals during the
last military dictatorship and the tensions unfolded within the intellectual
left in Argentina after the transition to democracy, especially in regard to
the crisis of Marxism and the Left. The contextualisation of these letters
serves the purpose of complementing and highlighting the literary and
archival value of this correspondence between Piglia and Sazbón.

Received 21/05/2019
Acepted 15/08/2019