| This dissertation examines the connections between popular culture, aesthetics, and the political struggles that Argentina experienced between 1950 and 1966. In it, I analyze attempts to create, appropriate, and resignify political symbols that were employed by Peronist populism, (1950-1955), the armed forces' conservative project which became known as the " Revolución Libertadora" (1955–1958), Arturo Frondizi's developmenalist plan for the country's middle class (1958–1962), and the administration of Arturo Illia (1963–1966). This dissertation analyzes the creation and dissemination of popular political symbols across a variety of visual sources — among other popular culture artifacts — such as magazines, posters, paintings, murals, statues, and brochures. Many of this era's political controversies involved state-sponsored iconography, but this dissertation also examines popular forms of expression that were produced by unions, political parties, and social movements. The outcome of these cultural confrontations was a transformation of Argentine political discourse and the emergence of a new political language, one that can still be identified in everyday Argentine political discourse. |
