Presence of greco-latin literature in anthropological studies carried out in Tucumán (1940-1955)

Abstract

The objective of this work is to investigate the presence of Greco-Latin literature in anthropological research carried out in Tucumán during the ’40s and ’50s, to elucidate what were the motivations that led scholars to resort to classical sources in search of answers to their questions. questions. Likewise, we intend to analyze the link between this recovery of classical culture and the academic environment of the period, characterized by an impulse of humanistic subjects and anthropology.

In the first part of the work we explain a theoretical framework of the concept of the classical and we mention some background of the topic to be dealt with. Then, we analyze the university context of the time, highlighting some events such as the creation of the Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology at the National University of Tucumán in 1947 and the emergence of the Institute of Classic Languages and Literatures in 1946. Next, we show new conceptions of anthropology and folklore that emerged during these years.

In the development of our work we rescue and analyze the references to Greco-Latin thinkers by various researchers: Tobías Rosenberg, Armando Vivante, Lavinia Dudan, Carlos Márquez Gajardo, Clemente Hernando Balmori, Bernardo Canal Feijoo, Rafael
Jijena Sánchez, among others. These references are organized according to a main theme: the beliefs and rituals of the region, including those related to medicine and disease, as well as those related to theater and legend.

The work shows that classical culture is inserted in a dynamic and complex intellectual context, generating a link between regional culture and Greco-Roman antiquity. The reference to the classical model had the purpose of deepening the knowledge of
the culture of the region, at the same time that it encouraged the emergence of the classical tradition in the province.