In 1934, Roberto Arlt undertook a trip to the Argentinian provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén, with the goal of writing notes - that he calls "Aguafuertes" - for his column in the newspaper El Mundo (The World). I wish here to answer three questions: a) Which are the enunciation positions used by the author?, b) How does he construct the space of his displacement between a "here," Buenos Aires, and a "there," Patagonia, which is depicted as a "frontier in the widest sense of the word"?, and c) Which are the underling tensions between the acceptation of the hegemonic discourse, which focuses on the idea of "civilization," and the possible contra-hegemonic answers?. Through his chronicle, Arlt becomes a spokesperson who denunciates the abandonment carried out by the national state, as well as the misery and exploitation suffered by the most vulnerable sectors, especially the indigenous and the chilotes - migrant workers from the island of Chiloé.
Argentina; immigration; indigenous genocide; Patagonia