{{short description, Argentine intellectual movement Salon literario

The 1837 generation ( es, Generación del '37) was an Argentine intellectual movement named after the date a literary hall with most of its members was established. Influenced by the new

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

ideas, they rejected the cultural Spanish heritage of the country. They did not acknowledge any national roots in the indigenous peoples or the period of European colonization, focusing instead on the Revolution as the birth of the country, as it gave them freedom, the possibility to behave as free people. They considered themselves "sons of the May Revolution", they were born shortly after it, and wrote some of the earliest Argentine literary works. The group established a literary hall in 1837 in Buenos Aires, hence the name. This ''Salón Literario'' closed six months after it was created because of the reiterated warnings from the government. Initially, they claimed to be neutral in the

Argentine Civil Wars The Argentine Civil Wars were a series of civil conflicts of varying intensity that took place through the territories of Argentina from 1814 to 1853. Initiation concurrently with the Argentine War of Independence (1810–1820), the conflict pr ...

, they wrote works biased against the

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

governor

Juan Manuel de Rosas Juan Manuel José Domingo Ortiz de Rosas (30 March 1793 – 14 March 1877), nicknamed "Restorer of the Laws", was an Argentine politician and army officer who ruled Buenos Aires Province and briefly the Argentine Confederation. Althoug ...

(such as '' El Matadero'' by Esteban Echeverría or ''

Facundo ''Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism'' (original Spanish title: ''Facundo: Civilización y Barbarie'') is a book written in 1845 by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, a writer and journalist who became the second president of Argentina. It is a corner ...

'' by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento) because Rosas was the Buenos Aires government of that time, but they were also against the former Unitarian governments, with whom they didn't agree in their absolutist manners that were considered by them as a mere restoration of the manners of the Spanish colony. Their efforts to install a full democratic Republic and guarantee civil rights by means of a peaceful ''propaganda'' were vain and shortly after that they ended up exiled or assassinated. After Rosas was overthrown in 1852, their writings inspired the first Argentine Constitution in 1853, and their persons promoters of the ''Organización Nacional'', the articulation and organization of the political divisions, infrastructure and institutions of the country, that in its final form didn't was federal nor unitarian but a balance of both. They were called "unitarians" in a loose sense and by Rosas ''propaganda''. Some notable members of this generation were Esteban Echeverría,

Juan Bautista Alberdi Juan Bautista Alberdi (August 29, 1810 – June 19, 1884) was an Argentine political theorist and diplomat. Although he lived most of his life in exile in Montevideo, Uruguay and in Chile, he influenced the content of the Constitution of Argenti ...

Juan María Gutiérrez Juan María Gutiérrez (May 6, 1809 – February 26, 1878) was an Argentine statesman, jurist, surveyor, historian, critic, and poet. He was a major figure in Argentine liberalism and one of the most prominent promoters of Argentine culture d ...

, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento who was president between 1868 and 1874, Miguel Cané (senior),

Bartolomé Mitre Bartolomé Mitre Martínez (26 June 1821 – 19 January 1906) was an Argentine statesman, soldier and author. He was President of Argentina from 1862 to 1868 and the first president of unified Argentina. Mitre is known as the most versatile ...

Andrés Lamas Andrés Lamas Bervejillo (born 16 January 1984) is an Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Defensor Sporting. Football career Born in Montevideo, Lamas started playing professionally with local Defensor Sporting Club ...

, Antonio Somellera,

Vicente Fidel López Vicente Fidel López (April 24, 1815 in Buenos Aires – August 30, 1903) was an Argentine historian, lawyer and politician. He was the son of writer and politician Vicente López y Planes. Biography He studied at the school of Moral Sciences wi ...

, Carlos Tejedor,

Juan Bautista Peña ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

, Florencio Varela,

Juan Cruz Varela ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

José Mármol José Mármol (1818 – 1871) was an Argentine journalist, politician, librarian, and writer of the Romantic school. Biography Born in Buenos Aires, he initially studied law, but abandoned his studies in favor of politics. In 1839, no soone ...

, José Rivera Indarte (Buenos Aires), Quiroga Rosas, Antonino Aberastain, Santiago Cortínez (San Juan), Benjamín Villafañe, Félix Frías (Tucumán), Francisco Álvarez, Paulino Paz, Enrique Rodríguez, Avelino Ferreyra, Ramón Ferreyra (Córdoba), Juan Thompson (Corrientes).

References

* Esteban Echeverría, 1846. ''Dogma Socialista de la Asociación de Mayo, precedido de una ojeada retrospectiva sobre el movimiento intelectual en el Plata desde el año 1837.'' (in Spanish) https://web.archive.org/web/20160319135757/http://trapalanda.bn.gov.ar/jspui/bitstream/123456789/2810/1/008235.pdf Cultural generations Romanticism Argentine Civil War Argentine literature Organizations established in 1837 Classical liberalism Domingo Faustino Sarmiento