Research into civilisation brings Argentine historian to Portugal

04 Feb 2025

The Argentine historian and art critic José Emilio Burucúa, author of Civilisation: History of a Concept, a monumental work published by Fondo de Cultura Económica in 2024, will come to Portugal in March to explore the same theme, this time focusing on the Third Reich. One of the purposes of his book on civilisation “was to find a meaning, a semantic field for the word that does not imply a Eurocentric superiority”. The work, the result of five years of research and writing, spans about 800 pages of deep investigation and analysis.

Burucúa will participate in a literary residency and various debates and conferences, including a talk at KEF. The Foundation supports the historian's visit to the country within the framework of its International Collaboration Atelier programme, which provides conditions for creation, research and exchange for artists on professional visits to Portugal at the initiative of partner cultural institutions.

Born in Buenos Aires in 1946, Burucúa has built a remarkable academic career as a doctor of philosophy and literature. His extensive bibliography includes seminal works such as Historia natural y mítica de los elefantes, Arte, cultura: de Aby Warburg a Carlo Ginzburg, and El mito de Ulises en el mundo moderno. His work has been recognised with multiple Konex awards, consolidating his position as one of the leading contemporary Latin American thinkers.