A new book just published in Buenos Aires discusses Traditionalism in Argentina. The book is Gnosis y tradiciones sagradas : Ensayos y epistolario en torno de la obra de Francisco García Bazán, edited by Bernardo Nante and Leandro Pinkler (El Hilo de Ariadna, 2015). It is a Festschrift for Francisco García Bazán (pictured), a distinguished Argentinian academic and Argentina's most prolific and respected Traditionalist.García Bazán represents the third generation of Argentinian Traditionalism, according to the short article "Tres generaciones de tradicionalistas argentinos" (Three Generations of Argentine Traditionalists), written by myself (Mark Sedgwick). The English text of this short article can be downloaded from academia.edu. It argues that Argentinian Traditionalism has always been Catholic, and that it was more influential in its first two generations, notably in the political arena, than it is today. Even though Traditionalism is not especially influential in Argentina today, however, it is taken seriously in academic and intellectual circles. In this Argentina matches Russia, and differs from the USA and most of Europe.
Three other articles deal with the influence of Traditionalism and of Eastern thought on García Bazán. One, "La recepción guenoniana en la obra de García Bazán" by the Spanish philosopher José Antonio Antón Pacheco argues, in effect, that García Bazán was what I would call a "soft" Traditionalist, if only because he attached more importance to Neoplatonism than Guénon did. Pacheco teaches at the University of Seville, and his contribution, which demonstrates a fine grasp of the work of both Guénon and García Bazán, shows that there are some European academics who take Guénon seriously at an intellectual level.
2 comments:
Federico González Frías, founder of Revista Symbolos was also an Argentine Traditionalist, Catholic and Freemason. He also wrote about Prehispánic Indigenous traditions. A group of Freemasons edited Revista de Estudios Tradicionales between 2002 and 2012, a translation of articles from Rivista de Studi Tradizionali from Turin and others from La Lettera G. There are several Sufi Tariqas, like the Halveti Jerrahi, Naqshbandi Haqqani and Shadhili. There are Buddhist, Hindu and Jewish groups, but I don't have information about their interest in Guenon or Traditional Metaphisics and Initiation. There is a Facebook page, "Círculo de Amigos de René Guénon", and a webpage, (among many others) which has articles from Guénon, Eliade, Corbin, Evola and other authors, named Australis Traditio. There are a page, a blog and a Facebook group from Centro Evoliano de América. They are linked with Agencia Informativa Kali Yuga.
Thank you! Federico González Frías died in Barcelona in 2014 at the age of 80. I always wanted to know more about him and his activities. I had forgotten that he was of Argentine origin. There is a brief biography on Wikipedia at https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federico_Gonz%C3%A1lez.
Post a Comment