Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies

Series Editors

Andrew HoskinsUniversity of Glasgow

Glasgow, United Kingdom

John SuttonDepartment of Cognitive Science

Macquarie UniversityMacquarie, Australia

The nascent field of Memory Studies emerges from contemporary trends that include a shift from concern with historical knowledge of events to that of memory, from “what we know” to “how we remember it”; changes in generational memory; the rapid advance of technologies of memory; panics over declining powers of memory, which mirror our fascination with the possibilities of memory enhancement; and the development of trauma narratives in reshaping the past. These factors have contributed to an intensification of public discourses on our past over the last thirty years. Technological, political, interpersonal, social and cultural shifts affect what, how and why people and societies remember and forget. This groundbreaking new series tackles questions such as: What is “memory” under these conditions? What are its prospects, and also the prospects for its interdisciplinary and systematic study? What are the conceptual, theo-retical and methodological tools for its investigation and illumination?

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/14682

Jordana Blejmar

Playful MemoriesThe Autofictional Turn in Post-Dictatorship

Argentina

Palgrave Macmillan Memory StudiesISBN 978-3-319-40963-4 ISBN 978-3-319-40964-1 (eBook)DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40964-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016957792

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub-lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made.

Cover image © Lorena Fernández / Lola Arias, Mi vida después (2008)

Printed on acid-free paper

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer NatureThe registered company is Springer International Publishing AG SwitzerlandThe registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Jordana BlejmarDepartment of Communication & MediaUniversity of LiverpoolLiverpool, United Kingdom

To James, Luca and Emilia

vii

This book would not have been possible without the patience, kindness and support of many people. I should like to thank Joanna Page for the encouraging and yet challenging ways in which she engaged with the work undertaken here. Aníbal Jarkowski, Ana Longoni and Javier Trímboli were wonderful friends and generous interlocutors. While I was preparing this book their work and our discussions were constantly in my mind.

I should also like to thank other friends and colleagues.In Argentina: Gonzalo Aguilar, Ana Amado, Estanislao Antelo,

Alejandra Birgin, Mario Cámara, Gabriel D’iorio, Lucía De Leone, Luciana Di Leone, Silvia Duschatzky, Inés Dussel, Cynthia Edul, Claudia Feld, Carlos Gamerro, Martín Kohan, Guillermo Korn, Federico Lorenz, Cecilia Macón, Daniela Pelegrinelli, Patricia Redondo, Roberto Pittaluga, Sylvia Saítta, Valentina Salvi, Yaki Setton and Marcelo Topuzian; the Núcleo de Estudios sobre Memoria at the Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social, the Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales and the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras at the Universidad de Buenos Aires; the Bers, the Etembergs and the Romarowskis; María Millán, María Mónaco, Mariana Santángelo, Lucía Tennina and Noelia Piqué.

In the UK: the Centre of Latin American Studies in Cambridge, in particular Julie Coimbra, Charles Jones, Geoffrey Kantaris, Rory O’Bryen and Erica Segre; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Jens Andermann, who sparked my interest in coming to study in the UK; Mariana Casale O’Ryan and June Taylor; Stefanie Gänger, Ed King, Gustavo Rocha and Paula Porroni, fellow latinoamericanistas at Cambridge; Katia Pizzi and Bill Marshall, who welcomed me to the Institute of Modern Languages

Acknowledgements

viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Research in London; the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures in Liverpool, especially Claire Taylor, whose support in recent years has been immeasurable; Sarah Wright, Emma Wilson and especially Stephi Hemelryk-Donald from the Leverhulme-funded network Childhood and Nation in World Cinema; Vikki Bell, Ben Bollig, Andrea Noble and David Rojinski. Further thanks go to my editors at Palgrave Macmillan.

I am grateful to Natalia Fortuny, Luis Ignacio García, Silvana Mandolessi, Cecilia Sosa and Mariana Eva Perez, who have been involved in many proj-ects tied to the topic of this book. Also to Victoria Torres, Kirsten Mahlke and the team from the European Research Council-funded Narratives of Terror and Disappearance. Thanks to Constanza Ceresa, Stef Craps, Gabriel Gatti, Fernando Reati, Alicia Salomone and Saúl Sosnowski.

I should like to extend my thanks to all the artists who shared their sto-ries and trusted me with their oeuvre. In particular I should like to mention Ana Adjiman, Laura Alcoba, Lola Arias, Gabriela Bettini, Marcelo Brodsky, Natalia Bruschtein, Félix Bruzzone, Albertina Carri, the Colectivo de hijos, Claudia Fontes, Gustavo Germano, María Giuffra, Victoria Grigera Dupuy, Lucila Quieto, María Soledad Nívoli, Mariana Eva Perez, Nicolás Prividera, Ernesto Semán, Ángela Urondo and Paloma Vidal.

Thanks to the Scorers, especially Jane and Tony, for their support while I was working on this book. And special thanks to my parents, sister and brother—working and living far from them is always the most difficult decision I have to confront. Finally, this book owes everything to the gen-erosity, patience and selflessness of James Scorer. He shows me everyday how powerful and subversive love and laughter can be.

ix

1 Introduction 1

2 The Autofictional Turn, Playful Memories of Trauma and the Post-Dictatorship Generations 13

3 Toying with History in Albertina Carri’s Los rubios 45

4 Self-Fictionalization, Parody and Testimony in Diario de una princesa montonera—110 % Verdad and  Montonerísima 69

5 Happily Ever After? Guerrilla Fables and Fairy Tales of Disappearance 93

6 Lucila Quieto’s Ludic Gaze 115

7 The Defamiliarized Past in Félix Bruzzone’s Comical Autofictions 145

8 Monstrous Memories 171

contents

x CONTENTS

9 Conclusion 197

Bibliography 209

Index 225

xi

CdC Club de ColayeCdh Colectivo de hijosCONADEP Comisión Nacional para la Desaparición de Personas (National

Commission on the Disappearance of Persons)ERP Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (People’s Revolutionary

Army)ESMA Escuela de Mecánica de la Armada (Navy Training School)EU European UnionGAC Grupo de Arte CallejeroHIJOS Hijos por la Identidad y la Justicia, contra el Olvido y el Silencio

(Sons and Daughters for Identity and Justice Against Oblivion and Silence)

ID IdentificationYPF Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales (Fiscal Oilfields)

AbbreviAtions

xiii

Fig. 1.1 Lola García Garrido, Xoel López and Iván Moiseeff, Mazinger Z contra la dictadura militar (poster), 2010 3

Fig. 3.1 Albertina Carri, Los rubios, cartografía de una película, 2007 55Fig. 4.1 Mariana Eva Perez, Diario de una princesa montonera—110 %

Verdad, 2012 (Photo: Damián Neustadt; collage: Natalia “Kit Sch” Perugini) 79

Fig. 4.2 Mariana Eva Perez, Diario de una princesa montonera—110 % Verdad, 2012 (Photo: Esteban Tula Santamaría) 83

Fig. 4.3 Victoria Grigera Dupuy, Montonerísima, 2015 (Photo: Natalia Mayans) 88

Fig. 5.1 Hugo Aveta, Calle 30 Número 1134, Espacios sustraíbles, 1998 103

Fig. 5.2 María Giuffra, La hija del guerrillero, Los niños del Proceso, 25 × 35 cm, mixed technique, 2006 (wwww.mariagiuffra.com) 105

Fig. 5.3 María Giuffra, Este dolor, Los niños del Proceso, 40 × 50 cm, charcoal and acrylic, 2005 (wwww.mariagiuffra.com) 106

Fig. 6.1 Photographs that formed part of the exhibition Archivos incompletos, ARGRA, 2008 116

Fig. 6.2 Lucila Quieto, El traidor, collage, 2008/2009 116Fig. 6.3 Lucila Quieto, Arqueología de la ausencia, photograph,

1999–2001 122Fig. 6.4 Lucila Quieto, Sargento Kirk en el Cordobazo, collage and

transfer, 2007 126Fig. 6.5 Lucila Quieto, Campo de Mayo, collage, 2008/2009 127Fig. 6.6 Lucila Quieto, Untitled, collage, 2013 131Fig. 6.7 Pedro Camilo del Cerro, El viaje de papá, photograph, 2007 133Fig. 6.8 Verónica Maggi, El rescate, photograph, 2007 134

list of figures

xiv LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 6.9 Gabriela Bettini, Mi tío Marcelo, Recuerdos inventados, photograph, 2003 136

Fig. 7.1 Book covers for Félix Bruzzone’s Los topos, 2008, and Las chanchas, 2014 147

Fig. 7.2 Drawing reproduced in Félix Bruzzone’s Las chanchas, 2014 152Fig. 8.1 Photograph reproduced in Ernesto Semán’s Soy un bravo

piloto de la nueva China, 2011 177Fig. 8.2 Lola Arias, Mi vida después, 2008 (Photo: Lorena Fernández) 184Fig. 8.3 Lola Arias, Mi vida después, 2008 (Photo: Lorena Fernández) 186