Dec 25, 2009

The Aleph | Historical Context

Argentine Politics and Art
In 1940, Roman Castillo replaced President Roberto Ortiz. Like many Argentines at the time, Castillo admired Hitler and Mussolini; like many citizens of Germany and Italy, many Argentines yearned for the order that fascism would presumably impose on their nation; like many of their European counterparts, many Argentines lacked the foresight to see the eventual, bloody results of such political movements.

The tide of fascist sympathy in Castillo’s administration was felt by Borges in 1942, when the National Commission for Culture did not...