Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973

Autores
Cosse Larghero, Isabella
Año de publicación
2014
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
In this article I reconstruct the history of Mafalda, the famous comic strip by the Argentine cartoonist Quino that was read, discussed, and viewed as an emblematic representation of Argentina’s middle class. With the aim of contributing to discussions on the interpretation of the middle class in Argentina and Latin America, I examine the emergence, circulation, and sociopolitical significance of the comic from its first strips in 1964 until Quino stopped producing new installments in 1973, making use of two conceptual and methodological approaches: a perspective situated at the intersection of the everyday and the political, as well as a consideration of humor as a way of exploring social identities. I argue first that Mafalda’s ironic and conceptual humor worked with the contradictions of the middle class as it faced social modernization, cultural and political radicalization, and a weakening democracy. Second, I suggest that the strip contributed to a representation of a heterogeneous middle class marked by ideological differences but nonetheless conceived as one. Third, I claim that such a representation lost its relevance with the political polarization and violence of the 1970s, as portraying a middle class—or a society—united despite differences was no longer feasible in that context. To illustrate this, the article closes by noting that, shortly after Mafalda was discontinued, state terrorism would brutally demonstrate just how little space there was in Argentina for the young, antiestablishment generation depicted in the strip.
Fil: Cosse Larghero, Isabella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Materia
Años Sesenta
Clase Media
Historieta
Familia
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/33428

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spelling Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973Cosse Larghero, IsabellaAños SesentaClase MediaHistorietaFamiliahttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/6.1https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6In this article I reconstruct the history of Mafalda, the famous comic strip by the Argentine cartoonist Quino that was read, discussed, and viewed as an emblematic representation of Argentina’s middle class. With the aim of contributing to discussions on the interpretation of the middle class in Argentina and Latin America, I examine the emergence, circulation, and sociopolitical significance of the comic from its first strips in 1964 until Quino stopped producing new installments in 1973, making use of two conceptual and methodological approaches: a perspective situated at the intersection of the everyday and the political, as well as a consideration of humor as a way of exploring social identities. I argue first that Mafalda’s ironic and conceptual humor worked with the contradictions of the middle class as it faced social modernization, cultural and political radicalization, and a weakening democracy. Second, I suggest that the strip contributed to a representation of a heterogeneous middle class marked by ideological differences but nonetheless conceived as one. Third, I claim that such a representation lost its relevance with the political polarization and violence of the 1970s, as portraying a middle class—or a society—united despite differences was no longer feasible in that context. To illustrate this, the article closes by noting that, shortly after Mafalda was discontinued, state terrorism would brutally demonstrate just how little space there was in Argentina for the young, antiestablishment generation depicted in the strip.Fil: Cosse Larghero, Isabella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaDuke University Press2014-02info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/33428Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973; Duke University Press; Hispanic American Historical Review; 94; 2-2014; 35-750018-21681527-1900CONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1215/00182168-2390604info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article-abstract/94/1/35/10927/Mafalda-Middle-Class-Everyday-Life-and-Politics-in?redirectedFrom=fulltextinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-03T10:05:22Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/33428instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-03 10:05:22.265CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973
title Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973
spellingShingle Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973
Cosse Larghero, Isabella
Años Sesenta
Clase Media
Historieta
Familia
title_short Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973
title_full Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973
title_fullStr Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973
title_full_unstemmed Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973
title_sort Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Cosse Larghero, Isabella
author Cosse Larghero, Isabella
author_facet Cosse Larghero, Isabella
author_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Años Sesenta
Clase Media
Historieta
Familia
topic Años Sesenta
Clase Media
Historieta
Familia
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6.1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/6
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv In this article I reconstruct the history of Mafalda, the famous comic strip by the Argentine cartoonist Quino that was read, discussed, and viewed as an emblematic representation of Argentina’s middle class. With the aim of contributing to discussions on the interpretation of the middle class in Argentina and Latin America, I examine the emergence, circulation, and sociopolitical significance of the comic from its first strips in 1964 until Quino stopped producing new installments in 1973, making use of two conceptual and methodological approaches: a perspective situated at the intersection of the everyday and the political, as well as a consideration of humor as a way of exploring social identities. I argue first that Mafalda’s ironic and conceptual humor worked with the contradictions of the middle class as it faced social modernization, cultural and political radicalization, and a weakening democracy. Second, I suggest that the strip contributed to a representation of a heterogeneous middle class marked by ideological differences but nonetheless conceived as one. Third, I claim that such a representation lost its relevance with the political polarization and violence of the 1970s, as portraying a middle class—or a society—united despite differences was no longer feasible in that context. To illustrate this, the article closes by noting that, shortly after Mafalda was discontinued, state terrorism would brutally demonstrate just how little space there was in Argentina for the young, antiestablishment generation depicted in the strip.
Fil: Cosse Larghero, Isabella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
description In this article I reconstruct the history of Mafalda, the famous comic strip by the Argentine cartoonist Quino that was read, discussed, and viewed as an emblematic representation of Argentina’s middle class. With the aim of contributing to discussions on the interpretation of the middle class in Argentina and Latin America, I examine the emergence, circulation, and sociopolitical significance of the comic from its first strips in 1964 until Quino stopped producing new installments in 1973, making use of two conceptual and methodological approaches: a perspective situated at the intersection of the everyday and the political, as well as a consideration of humor as a way of exploring social identities. I argue first that Mafalda’s ironic and conceptual humor worked with the contradictions of the middle class as it faced social modernization, cultural and political radicalization, and a weakening democracy. Second, I suggest that the strip contributed to a representation of a heterogeneous middle class marked by ideological differences but nonetheless conceived as one. Third, I claim that such a representation lost its relevance with the political polarization and violence of the 1970s, as portraying a middle class—or a society—united despite differences was no longer feasible in that context. To illustrate this, the article closes by noting that, shortly after Mafalda was discontinued, state terrorism would brutally demonstrate just how little space there was in Argentina for the young, antiestablishment generation depicted in the strip.
publishDate 2014
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2014-02
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/33428
Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973; Duke University Press; Hispanic American Historical Review; 94; 2-2014; 35-75
0018-2168
1527-1900
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/33428
identifier_str_mv Mafalda: Middle Class, Everyday Life, and Politics in Argentina, 1964-1973; Duke University Press; Hispanic American Historical Review; 94; 2-2014; 35-75
0018-2168
1527-1900
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1215/00182168-2390604
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://read.dukeupress.edu/hahr/article-abstract/94/1/35/10927/Mafalda-Middle-Class-Everyday-Life-and-Politics-in?redirectedFrom=fulltext
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Duke University Press
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Duke University Press
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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