The Representation of Nazism and World War II in the Literature of Argentina and Mexico”
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“The Representation of Nazism and World War II in the Literature of Argentina and Mexico” By © 2017 Javier Barroso Submitted to the graduate degree program in Spanish and Portuguese and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________ Chair, Verónica Garibotto ________________________________ Stuart Day ________________________________ Vicky Unruh ________________________________ Rafael Acosta ________________________________ Marike Janzen Date Defended: July 25, 2017 ii The Dissertation Committee for Javier Barroso certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: “The Representation of Nazism and World War II in the Literature of Argentina and Mexico” ________________________________ Chair, Verónica Garibotto Date approved: July 25, 2017 iii Abstract Since the 1960s Nazism, the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler, the atomic bomb, and World War II have been recurring tropes in Argentine and Mexican literature, demanding to be studied as an overarching phenomenon that has existed for decades in these two countries. These works have mostly been studied as indirect references to the Argentine dictatorship or to the current wave of narco-violence in Mexico. Most analyses reinforce traditional notions of allegory in which the allegorical text is mirroring its referent in a parallel relationship. To some extent, this parallel relationship is encouraged by the literary texts themselves, as they often introduce explicit references to local historical events alongside the representations of Nazism or World War II, most notably the dictatorial periods in Argentina, or the gruesome violence in Mexico’s narco- war. I find, however, that some of these critical interpretations leave no room for readings that go beyond analyzing representations of Nazism as metaphors. My main objective is to show that in each region the literary representations of World War II events can be read beyond these canonical and often pre-established interpretations. Instead, I argue that these literary texts represent (and sometimes challenge) other unexplored situations and conflicts in these nations such as xenophobia, racism, the naturalization of violence, and the need for a new intellectual ethic. To reveal these other, latent possibilities, I rely on the concept of dialectical or interlocking allegories to analyze how the texts’ referents and signs are constantly building on each other instead of simply mirroring each other. iv Acknowledgments It would have been impossible for me to finish this dissertation without the enormous support from Erinn Taylor, my incredibly bright wife, and my best friend. She patiently supported me through the most difficult moments of the writing process, and was always the first to read, edit, and masterfully suggest ways to clarify the abstract ideas in my earliest rough drafts. Thank you, Erinn. I would also like to recognize Verónica Garibotto, my dissertation director, for the time she dedicated to guiding me through my doctoral formation. Her brilliant insights during our many long conversations about this dissertation, Argentine culture, and the profession in general were invaluable. I am very proud to have been her first advisee. I will always be grateful for her enormous amount of patience, her dedication, and friendship. Thank you, Vero. I would like to give a very special thanks to Amy Rossomondo for instilling in me a sense of self-worth as a graduate student and as an instructor. I can say with confidence that without her guidance it would have been nearly impossible for me to reach this milestone in my academic career. She was one my greatest champions in the department, and I will always be incredibly grateful for her trust, care, and making me believe in myself. Thank you, Amy. Thank you, Stuart Day, for immediately making me feel at home in the Spanish and Portuguese Department when I first joined KU. Your wittiness, incredible dedication to your profession and students, and your amazing ability to incite a smile in those around you made me often see you as a model to follow. I am extremely grateful for your continued support and sincere care. I would also like to thank Vicky Unruh, who kindly accepted to be part of my dissertation committee as she was preparing to retire and move far from Kansas. Thank you so much, Vicky, v for your thoughtful and pointed feedback throughout the dissertation writing process. I have always considered myself very fortunate to have you as one of my advisors. I am also very grateful to my fourth dissertation reader, and occasional dominoes partner, Rafael Acosta. Thank you for your great insights, and invaluable help in fleshing out the very early drafts of two of my chapters. There were many classmates who throughout the years have in one way or another supported me and helped me during my time studying at KU. A few of those classmates became some of my best friends, and they accompanied me through different stages of my journey to reach this milestone. I would like to particularly thank, in a strictly alphabetical order, Jennifer Abercrombie, Adolfo Bejar, Pablo Celis, Alba Constenla, and Luis Rodríguez, for their enduring friendship and support. Thank you, dear friends. And as always, I want to thank my mother, my brothers, and my in-laws for their continued support. Thank you all. vi To Erinn vii Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments ........................................................................................................................ iv Introduction: Fictionalized Nazis in Latin America and the Legacy of José Emilio Pacheco’s Morirás lejos ................................................................................................................. 1 Current scholarship and allegorical readings .............................................................................. 5 Globalization, the Holocaust, and the Specificity of Latin American Literary Works ............... 9 The Legacy of Pacheco’s Morirás lejos ................................................................................... 14 Contemporary Representations of Nazism and the Holocaust ................................................. 25 Chapter 1. Representations of Nazism and the 1976-83 dictatorship: Allegorical Readings of Piglia’s Respiración artificial and Posse’s Los demonios ocultos ........................................ 30 Respiración artificial: Nazism and Argentina’s Post-Dictatorial Intellectual Conundrum ...... 34 Piglia’s reformulation of the intellectual sphere ....................................................................... 45 Los demonios ocultos: An Ambivalent Confrontation with the Past ........................................ 55 Posse’s Representation of Nazism and Peronism ..................................................................... 66 Peronism, Argentine Intellectual Reconfiguration, and the Importance of Form ..................... 71 Chapter 2. Argentine Representations of Nazism in the New Millennium: Discrimination, Xenophobia, and the Perpetuation of National Myths ............................................................ 78 The Economic Collapse and its Consequences on Argentine Society ...................................... 84 Public safety, Criminality, and Immigration in Argentina ....................................................... 86 Auschwitz: Ignominy, Allegories, and Social Criticism in Grotesque Humor ......................... 90 World War II Tropes, Racism, and Xenophobia in Auschwitz ................................................. 92 The Power of Humor as a Means of Representation ................................................................ 97 viii Wakolda: The Uncovering and Perpetuation of Argentine Myths .......................................... 100 Aporias in Argentine nationhood discourses and Wakolda .................................................... 106 Una misma noche: Nazism and Public Safety in 1976 and 2010 ........................................... 110 Diegetic and extradiegetic references to Nazism .................................................................... 114 The Representation of Fear and Public Safety in Argentina ................................................... 119 Conclusion: A Continued Interest in Argentine Nazism ........................................................ 123 Chapter 3. Mexico’s Armed Conflict: Representations of Nazism and World War II during the Drug Wars ........................................................................................................................... 125 The Drug War in Mexico and the Homo Sacer ...................................................................... 130 The Perpetuation of Hegemonic Discourse in Narco-narratives ............................................ 138 Dehumanized Bodies in Volpi’s Oscuro bosque oscuro ........................................................ 140 Volpi beyond the Crack’s Shadow ......................................................................................... 148 Metonymical Theatre: Königsberg-Monterrey as Mexico’s Stage ......................................... 152 The Uses and Abuses of Historical Events to Explain the Present ......................................... 167 Conclusion: Pedagogic Allegories, Committed