For Latin American literature enthusiasts (like myself), especially those with keen interest in Southern Cone studies, there’s a beautifully crafted website devoted to the works of Argentine authors, artists, popular literature, and linguistic studies. ARCAS is an open access portal that presents collections sponsored by the School of Humanities and Pedagogical Sciences of the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) in Argentina. This project, which is geared towards scholars, was created in 2012 as a collaborative effort between the Guillermo Obiols Library and a group of researchers of the Research Institute of Humanities and Sciences (FAHCE).
Users can locate and access sources produced by contributing members of the scholarly community of UNLP. ARCAS has also embarked on the digital preservation of sources with the use of international standards and best practices.
ARCAS’ Collections
There are four main collections contained in ARCAS, two related to Argentinian artistic figures, and two devoted to themed-specific primary sources.
The Manuel Puig collection of manuscripts pertaining to Argentinian author, Manuel Puig, contains his preliminary notes that led to the writing of his novels. The Edgardo Vigo collection of personal documents of this plastic artist includes catalogs, pamphlets, exhibit invitations and posters, as well as original sketches, and visual poetry.
CORdEMIA is a collection of interviews conducted with migrants living in La Plata region, creating a corpus of coexisting linguistic varieties. This project was made possible by students and faculty members of FAHCE, and by the generosity of the interviewees. The Literatura Popular Argentina collection deals with texts, melodies, and images originating from pop lit created in the past few decades across different regions of the country.
Open Access Policy
ARCAS is committed to providing free access to their content, as they are considered valuable informational sources for academics. Its policy can be read in the About page. The works included in ARCAS are made available to the public under CC licensing.
