Confluences and divergences around folklore and Mexican literature at the beginning of the 20th century. The antagonistic visions of Rubén M. Campos and Alfonso Reyes

Abstract

Folklore studies burst with force worldwide at the beginning of the 20th century and the Mexican literary field wonders about the space they occupy both in creation and criticism, considering that popular and traditional literature was already a source of inspiration and study. A historical line is then established to observe what were the main contributions, debates and, in short, ideas that were proposed in Mexico, especially by writers or people linked to the literary sphere. This proposed line leads to three circumstances, whose detailed observation becomes an essential part of the proposed analysis: the publication of the three volumes that constitute the folkloric work of Rubén M. Campos, as well as the reception given to it by Alfonso Reyes and Salvador Novo (the first with a review of one of his books and the second with a fierce criticism in a column, which had the reply of the writer from Guanajuato). In the discursive analysis of these circumstances, we find the keys to understand two extremes of observation of the same phenomenon, always taking as a backdrop the construction of a nationalism that permeated most of the cultural manifestations of the time and forced writers to take a position.