The isolation of Jenaro Prieto

Abstract

By revising different texts documenting the critical reception of Jenaro Prieto’s (1888-1946) writing, this article demonstrates how isolation has been imposed as the main descriptive and explanatory factor in the success of the work itself, including particulars concerning style and content. The argument sustained to account for this diagnostic, points out that isolation is the result of two phenomena: Jenaro Prietos generic disaffiliation from Chilean literature at that given point in time, and the choice and development of an ironic voice as a means to take part in public debate.