To path indicator Subpages of “Newsdetail“ To navigation To quick access To footer with other services
To content
Der Campus Nord ist abgebildet. Im Zentrum des Bildes der Mathetower. © Roland Baege​/​TU Dortmund
A forgotten voice in Latin American literature

Research expedition provides first-time access to Matilde Alba Swann’s archive

Prof. Dr Susanne Zepp-Zwirner in front of materials from the archive of the poet Matilde Alba Swann © private
Lawyer, poet, committed human rights advocate – and nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1992: the Argentine-Jewish author Matilde Alba Swann (1912–2000), whose real name was Matilde Kirilovsky de Creimer, is one of the most fascinating voices in Latin American literature, yet one that has scarcely been studied to date. In Argentina, Prof. Dr Susanne Zepp-Zwirner from the University of Duisburg-Essen became the first scholar in the world to examine her previously unexplored family archive.

Matilde Alba Swann’s poems were praised for their linguistic clarity – “limpia de vicios”, free from stylistic affectations. At the same time, she worked as a journalist and lawyer and reported on the Falklands War as a correspondent on the ground. As part of a research trip partly funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, literary scholar Prof. Dr Susanne Zepp-Zwirner has, for the first time, scientifically examined and documented the author’s archive, which is preserved at the family home in La Plata. She was the first researcher to gain access to an estate that had remained in the family’s possession for decades.

Around 2,500 documents – including literary manuscripts, personal letters, legal files, press articles and photographs – were systematically catalogued during the course of the research. The materials offer new perspectives on Swann’s work and vividly demonstrate how closely her literary output was linked to her legal practice.

The sources form the basis for a planned monograph on the author’s work. This is based on Swann’s essay ‘La poesía del derecho’, in which she develops the idea that legal thinking and poetic language can together contribute to the defence of human rights. In parallel, plans are in place to establish a digital repository, to be created in cooperation with the Ibero-American Institute in Berlin, the Universidad Nacional de La Plata and the National Library of Argentina.

The project also enhances the international profile of the University Alliance Ruhr, particularly in the context of the opening of its liaison office for Latin America in São Paulo in 2025.

During her stay, Zepp-Zwirner presented her research project at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata and held talks with the German Embassy in Buenos Aires and with cultural institutions regarding the expansion of German-Argentine research cooperation. The Argentine daily newspaper El Día also reported on the research trip.

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Susanne Zepp-Zwirner, University of Duisburg-Essen, Tel.: 0201/183-3891, susanne.zepp-zwirner@uni-due.de

Text:

Juliana Fischer

Source:

UDE website