El gaucho rioplatense del siglo XIX y las primeras décadas del XX

una tipología desde la historia y la literatura

Abstract

In this article I put forward a historical-literary typology of the gaucho rioplatense. I focus
on two fundamental moments in the history of the gaucho: the first one, ranging from the
late 18th century (with the official historical-literary emergence of the gaucho) until the last
third of the 19th century, with the disappearance of the legendary wandering gaucho bravo
due to the ongoing modernization process. In the second moment the gaucho becomes
either a paid employee in the ranch, or a hunter outside the limits of the ranch, or a
”compadrito”. I will analyze the gaucho –in particular, the gaucho found in poetry- in his
particular social environment which included diverse human races, an aspect which shaped
his personality.