Circulation of printed materials and readings on Anatole France at the beginning of the Twentieth Century in Argentina

Abstract

This work studies the reception of Anatole France's writings in the print culture of Buenos Aires during the first three decades of the 20th century. It focuses on two concomitant aspects: on the one hand, the presence of the French writer in political and cultural magazines in the early 1900 and its uses by different milieux and cultural formations. On the other hand, it analyses the circulation of his books through a survey of the published titles that are present in different repositories, to account for their progressive presence, from French editions to Spanish ones, and then Argentine publishers based in Buenos Aires. The case of France thus demonstrates different moments and features of local critical sensitivity, and its close connexion with publishing and magazines practices. It is proposed that putting into perspective the successive moments of the dissemination and local circulation of France's writings, supported by the observation of different agents that take part in the publishing field, allows us to examine some changes in critical discourse, publishing decisions and, indirectly, their impact on reading practices, from literate readers to amateurs belonging to different social sectors.