Theatricality: On Creole Agency in Sarmiento’s Trilogy Civilización y barbarie

Abstract

While president of Argentina, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1811–88) visited the insane asylum of Buenos Aires. As he entered the yard in which the “madmen” usually gathered, they grew unusually excited. After a stormy consultation, one of them— evidently their representative—withdrew, then approached the president, greeting him in the following manner: “Finally, Mr. President, among us” (“Al fin, señor Sarmiento, entre nosotros,” quoted in Rojas 1945, 579).