Wechsler, Elina
WECHSLER, ELINA
WECHSLER, ELINA (1952– ), Argentinean poet. Born in Buenos Aires, she was a psychoanalyst by profession. She left Argentina in 1977 as a consequence of the military dictatorship that unleashed extreme political repression and violence and took up residence in Madrid. Wechsler was the author of four collections of poetry: El fantasma (1983), La larga marcha (1988), Mitomanías amorosas (1991), and Progresiones en un cierto mes de julio (1995). Her poetry is characterized by her questioning approach, most likely influenced by her training in psychology. Her early volumes are linked rather directly to her exile and the political repercussions she suffered in her personal life as a result. Likewise, her writing focuses on issues of identity that specifically deal with being a woman and Jewish. She often seeks to examine these aspects of her identity through the lyrical treatment of such female figures as Lilith, Eve, and Lot's wife. She is also the co-author of La metáfora milenaria: una lectura psicoanalítica de la Biblia (1993), an insightful reading of the Bible that has much in common with many of the questions she raises in her poetry.
[Darrell B. Lockhart (2nd ed.)]