Gauchos.

At the beginning of the 20th century, literary criollism emerged as Latin American nations struggled to achieve national unity and to differentiate themselves from Europe. In Argentina, the "gaucho" was the most autochthonous symbol to be used by the criollists. This thesis examines how two novels, Los caranchos de La Florida and El ingles de los guesos by the Argentinean writer Benito Lynch, in opposition to the exotic version introduced by his contemporaries such as Ricardo Guiraldes, denounce the real situation of the gaucho. The gauchos became the subject of abuse by the landowners and were forgotten by the nation, which excluded them from the national project of unification. I introduce the term "gauchista" literature, analogous to the "indigenista" movement, to characterize Lynch's voice of protest and vindication of the gaucho and his right to education and dignity.