Rodó

Journalism and intellectual journey

Abstract

The development of professional writing in Latin America went through an unequal process since the late nineteenth century when, among other cultural practices, press corps of the continent appointed writers as European correspondents, thus allowing several prestigious ones, on the one hand, to consolidate or accentuate their relationship with journalism and,on the other, to participate in the culture of both the journey itself and what Colombi (2004) calls, quoting Paul Groussac, the intellectual journey. This article discusses the scope of some of these analytical categories (intellectual journey, literate correspond-ents, formation of the intellectual field) and then focuses on the study of José Enrique Rodó's trip to Europe in 1917 as foreign correspondent of the Argentinian magazine Caras y Caretas, within this conceptual framework.