He ahí un hombre: Composite masculinity in retratos y recuerdos by Lucio V. Mansilla

Studies of Lucio V. Mansilla typically focus on his appropriation of otherness in Una excursión a los indios ranqueles (J. Ramos), his literary 'pose' as causeur (S. Molloy), or else his cultural function at the center of Argentina's Generation of 1880 (D. Viñas). These approaches hinge on the fragmentary nature of Mansilla's selfconstruction. In contrast, this article focuses on the composite portrait of Argentine masculinity Mansilla constructs in Retratos y Recuerdos, published in 1894. Mansilla's text aims to portray the physical and psychological characteristics, as well as the moral and political ideologies, of the Argentine men who shaped the modern nation. In doing so, the author suggests an elite masculinity that is constructed by an elaborate network of fraternal relations, homosocial bonds, which are charged with an inexplicable erotic tension.