ABSTRACT
After the heroic confrontations in the wars of independence, the gaucho became an outlaw, the representation of barbarism and the embodiment of the past that modern civilization wanted to overcome (Rodríguez Molas 1967). The poem by José Hernández (1834–1886) El gaucho Martín Fierro (1872) and its continuation, La Vuelta de Martín Fierro (1879) were written during a period in which the figure of the gaucho began to disappear, and the nation-state began to emerge (Scobie 1968; Di Friedi 1972, 29; Fayo 1972, 27; Franco 1983, 89; Rouquié 1984, 33, 40; Gori 1986, 24). Both works were considered the culmination of gaucho literature, achieving, more than any other publication of that period, an enormous popularity that bridged all social classes and penetrated deep into the popular conscience (Leumann 1945, 289; Abad de Santillán 1965, 87–96; Zorroaquín Becú 1972; Díaz Araujo 1972, 171; Dabove 2002). The poem marks the point at which the author ceased to portray the figure of the gaucho in a picturesque, anecdotal manner, representing instead his essence, as well as that of the Pampean environment that surrounded him. At the same time he actively defended him as an iconic character, by emphasizing his human and social values, which were presented in opposition to the advance of a civilizing process that sacralized progress (Oviedo 2001, 57). 1
