Proof/Read: Literature from Argentina

How to write in a country which must overcome the consequences of state terror, turbo-capitalism, and economic crisis? For this year’s book fair, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt presents young Argentine authors who share a penchant for idiosyncratic yet highly entertaining literature. Whether they call into question the Eurocentric self-conception of the middle class, or write crime novels which, at the same time, are essays on literary theory, or gain new revelations from everyday life - all selected authors steer their readers away from the harmless consumption of books. The program includes: the mobile Latin American Literature "Latinale" and an exhibition on the history of the literary avant-gardes of Argentina.

Proof/Read - Day 1 | Day 2

18 h Opening

"Proof/Read. Literature from Argentina "and the exhibition "Argentina's literary avant-garde"

Susanne Stemmler, Haus der Kulturen der Welt and Magdalena Faillace, Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs

19 h Reading, Conversation

After Borges. The Legacy of the Avant-gardes

Pedro Mairal, Cecilia Pavón, Samanta Schweblin

What is left of the political and aesthetic avant-garde? - three writers born in the 1970s ask and answer the question. Samanta Schweblin is celebrated for her disturbing fictions (“Die Wahrheit über die Zukunft“, Suhrkamp). Cecilia Pavón, translator, gallery owner, editor and poet („Fette Katze Tonträger“, SuKuLTur) talks about a new genre: „Poetry with Links“. Pedro Mairal explores the connection between life and art in his detective novel "Das fehlende Jahr des Juan Salvatierra".

Moderator: Silvia Fehrmann, Haus der Kulturen der Welt

German + Spanish simultaneous translation

21:30 h Film

Los Rubios (The Blondes)

Dir: Albertina Carri / Screenplay: Albertina Carri and Alan Pauls.

Argentina 2003, OV with subtitles, 91 min

The director, whose parents were victims of state terror, looks at the vacuum left in the wake of the military dictatorship.

In cooperation with Latinale, Instituto Cervantes and the Embassy of Argentina in Germany

Curated by Timo Berger, Rike Bolte, Susanne Stemmler, Silvia Fehrmann

Program coordinator: Cordula Hamschmidt

Project assistant: Isabel Ferrin-Aguirre I Intern: Nathalie Solís Pérez

Proof/Read - Day 1 | Day 2