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.

Day 1 | Proof/Read - Day 2

14 h Conversation
Latinale @ Proof/Read: Publishing during the crisis: a social project?
Washington Cucurto, Gustavo Darío López, Esteban Castromán

They defy the crisis with their publishing projects: The cooperative Eloísa Cartonera creates affordable, one of a kind works together with people who are unemployed. The exquisite program of Ediciones Vox radiates from the port city of Bahía Blanca to the whole of Latin America. Ediciones Clase Turista brings objects for book fetishists to the market.

Moderator:Timo Berger, author, translator and journalist

German-Spanish simultaneous translation

16 h Reading
Latinale @ Proof/Read: Against the Nation. Boedo is everywhere
Fabián Casas, Damián Tabarovsky, Washington Cucurto, Lina Meruan

As the crisis in Argentina has left over? For Fabián Casas, winner of the Anna Seghers Prize 2007 is not Argentina, but a quarter of his childhood the germ of a new solidarity. He devoted himself to the district "Boedo" of Buenos Aires, from which derived the name of a literary avant-garde group of the 20s, a series of stories ("In Praise of inertia", Red Book, 2010). Sociologist and writer Damian Tabarovsky examines the contradictions of Argentine literature with humor. Washington Cucurto (shoes made of linen "; SuKuLTtur) describes how more and more important in Argentina Latin America. And the Chilean writer Lina Meruan undermined national stereotypes performative. Meruan received after publishing stories and the novel "Fruta podrida", now a Guggenheim Fellowship for a yet unpublished novel.

Moderator: Rike Bolte, Research Associate at the LAI Berlin

18 h Reading, Conversation
History(s) and Memory
Bruzzone Félix, María Sonia Cristoff, Martín Kohan

How do you represent a history full of rupture in literature? In his novels („Zweimal Juni“, „Sekundenlang“, Suhrkamp), Martín Kohan conjures the horrors of military dictatorship. In her reportages, María Sonia Cristoff gives an account of the end of the world ("Patagonische Gespenster“, Berenberg). Félix Bruzzone ("76", Berenberg 2010), the son of a "disappeared", puts conventional transmission of recent history to the test.

Moderator: Michi Strausfeld, literature scout and editor

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

Day 1 | Proof/Read - Day 2