Blackness in Argentina: The repression and representations of Afro-Argentine identities in the national imaginary

Argentina is usually considered demographically an essentially European country, different in this way from the rest of Latin America. In particular a curious and widely accepted preconception asserts that Argentina has never had a population with African roots or if it did, it was small and its contribution to the formation of national identity was not relevant. Even in the historical accounts or in cultural studies the dominant tendency is to obscure the essential presence and influence of Afro-Argentines within the "imagined" community or system of elements and relations called Argentina.; However during the period 1806--1871 when the contribution of the Afro-Argentine population was absolutely necessary for economic development, political independence and the consolidation of the nation, its influence on autochthonous popular culture is impossible to deny. Most of the things that have become emblematic of Argentine identity worldwide, such as the tango, the "parrillada" (specialty meat dishes), and the "payada" (a kind of folkloric poetic competition), are directly intertwined with the Afro-Argentine contribution. Paradoxically, the first seventy years of the past century are the main source of images used in hegemonic configurations of national identity, those that were (and sometimes still are) more useful for the symbolic and material interests of the dominant classes.; The project begins from a contemporary perspective and focuses on different symbolic productions of the period 1806--1916 related to the representation of Afro-Argentine cultures, starting with the British Invasions of 1806--1807 and ending with the death of Gabino Ezeiza (the most important "payador" or trobaudour who besides was Afro-Argentine), the publication of El payador by the modernist poet Leopoldo Lugones (a text that "whitens" and then transforms the popular poem Martin Fierro into a classic of national high culture), and the institutional end of the oligarchic republic. In addition, literary works, juridical texts, National Congress sessions, journalism, iconography, and even school events planned for patriotic celebrations that pertain to the theme are analyzed.