Azul and chance: a cast of the dice or a flow of data

Abstract

This essay discusses some of the main elements of the first reception of Azul..., by Rubén Darío. The aim is to examine the historical and cultural determinations that were shaping up the book’s future and the discourse of modernity in the texts of Eduardo de la Barra, Juan Valera and Manuel Rodríguez Mendoza. Sure enough, the diversity of critical perspectives placed the dialogue between these texts into the field of controversy, starting with their different interpretations of the book’s title, Azul... – an emblematic cast of the dice or flow of data orchestrated by Darío. However, a remarkable parallel both in the tropes and in premises used by the first commentators of Azul… suggests a common heritage behind their texts.