RAFAEL GUTIÉRREZ GIRARDOT (Sogamoso, Colombia, 1928 - Bonn, Germany, 2005) is recognized for his work as a critic for understanding Hispanic culture and its place in the world order, starting from a disciplinary crossover between philosophy, literature and history. From his beginnings as a student, Gutiérrez manifested a deep interest in aesthetic-philosophical thought in the Hispanic sphere, as can be seen in his early books such as La imagen de América en Alfonso Reyes (Ínsula, Madrid, 1955) and Jorge Luis Borges. Ensayo de interpretación (Ínsula, Madrid, 1959). His intellectual work can be understood as an important bridge between the studies of Hispanic and European thought; in this sense, it could be said that the Colombian critic was one of the first to introduce the work of Alfonso Reyes and Jorge Luis Borges to the German academic sphere. Perhaps one of the most cited or commented books by Gutiérrez Girardot is Modernismo: Historical and Cultural Assumptions (Mexico, FCE, 1988). The text presented here should be seen as a complement to this book. It must be said that both were born from university lessons, whose term in German is Vorlesung.