Ciencia y secularización en Las fuerzas extrañas, de Leopoldo Lugones

Abstract

Taking as reference the literary criticism from the English-speaking world, this essay attempts to explain the correlations between science and secularization as shown in Las fuerzas extrañas, a collection of short stories by Argentinian modernista author Leopoldo Lugones. By analyzing the intertextual connections between Lugones’ book and The Secret Doctrine, the ambitious theosophical treatise authored by Helena P. Blavatsky, and using also the concept of “scientific paradigm” proposed by Thomas Kuhn, the conclusion is reached that Lugones is both, a firm opponent of the materialistic scientific positivism of the nineteenth century, and a proponent of a new syncretic spiritualism that simultaneously coincides with and distances from the Christian Weltanschauung.