Del lector y sus alrededores : teori�a y pra�ctica del sujeto lector en los cuentos de Julio Corta�zar

This thesis studies the concept of the reading subject in the short stories of Argentine writer Julio Cortazar (1914-1984) following the model of intersubjective communication developed by German philosopher Jorgen Habermas (1929- ). According to this, the subject has to overcome an initial and conventional phase of the 'self, which represents an isolated individual who is unable to communicate, but who merely complies with established social norms and behaviours. This attitude can be associated with the behaviour of the 'subject-fama' which Cortazar describes in his narrative. Similarly, in relation to the reader ('tu'), this conventional state corresponds to a passive consumer, whose practice is analogous to that of the 'subject-fama'. In order to move beyond this conventional phase of the 'self, the reading subject has to overcome his/her solitude through a search for and participation in the alter ego. Through this process, the reading subject adopts a critical attitude in the face of social and literary expectations, to become a ccronopio-c6mplice'. This type of reading subject rejects conventional structures, and follows a poetic intuition which is intended to enable him/her to discover a more complete form: to achieve ontological possession. However, Cortazar also sees it, as necessary to reform the traditional line of occidental thought, in order to develop a stage of post-conventional identity through social and narrative engagement and participation. Hence, we relate this new phase of the 'self with the socialist notion of the 'hombre nuevo' ('new man'), which Cortazar conceives as the ideal subject for a new type of society. In order to achieve this, the 'self' has to undertake an internal revolution which would transform not only the subject's social consciousness but also his/her mental and linguistic structures. As a result, the reader would be able to become a 'se-lector', in other words, a type of reader who, like the 'hombre nuevo', is self-conscious and self-determining.