DOCSLIB.ORG

Malvinas Myths, Falklands Fictions: Cultural Responses to War from Both Sides of the Atlantic Laura Linford Williams

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Malvinas Myths, Falklands Fictions: Cultural Responses to War from Both Sides of the Atlantic Laura Linford Williams Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2005 Malvinas Myths, Falklands Fictions: Cultural Responses to War from Both Sides of the Atlantic Laura Linford Williams Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES MALVINAS MYTHS, FALKLANDS FICTIONS: CULTURAL RESPONSES TO WAR FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC By LAURA LINFORD WILLIAMS A Dissertation submitted to the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2005 Copyright © 2005 Laura Linford Williams All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Laura Linford Williams defended on March 25, 2005. Jean Graham-Jones Professor Directing Dissertation Dale A. Olsen Outside Committee Member William J. Cloonan Humanities Representative Juan C. Galeano Committee Member The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES iv ABSTRACT v INTRODUCTION 1 1. THE MAKING OF FALKLANDS AND MALVINAS MYTHS 32 2. MYTH PERPETUATORS 87 3. DEMYTHOLOGIZERS 131 4. COUNTERMYTHOLOGIZERS 188 5. THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY: AMBIGUOUS TEXTS 262 CONCLUSION 321 APPENDIX 343 BIBLIOGRAPHY 347 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 367 iii LIST OF FIGURES 1. The Thatcher Years, by John Springs 189 2. The Iron Woman Victorious, by Raymond Briggs 233 iv ABSTRACT The Falklands/Malvinas War of 1982 brought two previously friendly nations into armed conflict – not only over the possession of a few small islands, but also over moral principles and national honor. Both Argentina and the United Kingdom had attached symbolic and mythic significations to the islands and to the struggle for their possession. These myths, closely tied to issues of national identity and pride, influenced national leaders and ordinary citizens alike to advocate what was seen on both sides as a just and necessary war for sovereignty and national dignity. This dissertation uses Roland Barthes’s definition of myth as a constructed and superimposed signification, as well as Hayden White’s theory that history and literature share similar plot structures, to examine how Britain’s and Argentina’s nationalist myths were developed and applied to the Falklands/Malvinas dispute. While governmental speeches, media reports, and polemic essays play a supportive role, my analysis centers on Falklands/Malvinas myths as they appear in artistic texts, including poetry, novels, short stories, theater, film, music, and visual arts. I compare many British and Argentinean texts that reiterate, endorse, question, or undermine nationalist myths in various ways, focusing the most detailed attention on ten central texts. Argentinean poetry from the anthology Nuestros poetas y las Malvinas (1983) and television playwright Ian Curteis’s The Falklands Play (1987) are examined as “myth-perpetuators” that endorse or reiterate nationalist myths. Griselda Gambaro’s Del sol naciente (1984) and Steven Berkoff’s Sink the Belgrano! (1986) are discussed as “demythologizing” theater works that question and undermine official myths. The satirical novels Las Islas (1998), by Carlos Gamerro, and Swansong (1986), by Richard Francis, function as “countermythologizers,” or texts that deploy their own myths to subvert and replace official myths. Finally both book and film versions of Los chicos de la guerra (1982, 1983) and Tumbledown (1988) are presented as ambiguous works that have escaped categorization and been assigned multiple interpretations. Although the v official Falklands/Malvinas myths continue to endure, they have faced stronger questioning and opposition from competing viewpoints and myths in post-war years. vi INTRODUCTION The Falklands/Malvinas conflict of 1982 was a relatively short war over a seemingly insignificant bit of property in the South Atlantic.1 However, for the combatant nations, there was much more at stake than whose flag would fly over a few inhospitable islands. Each side attached its own symbolic and mythic significance to the islands and to the struggle for their possession. These myths, or fictions, closely tied to issues of national identity and pride, influenced decisions to fight on the part of national leaders, as well as decisions to support those leaders on the part of their compatriots. The Falklands/Malvinas myths continue to inform attitudes toward the conflict and what it means; they have found their way into the media, and also into picture books, films, poetry, novels and short stories, music, and memoirs from artists, journalists, and soldiers on both sides of the conflict. Some cultural responses, what I term “myhtologizers” or “myth-perpetuators,” endorse and perpetuate nationalistic myths, while others seek to label them as myths and dismantle them. I call those texts that challenge, question, or deconstruct official myths “demythologizers.” Some texts deal with the myths in more ambiguous ways, allowing some to slip through their texts unnoticed while challenging others, or by ignoring them completely. Other texts set up their own myths about the war that work to question or dismantle official myths – these works are “countermythologizers.” Through examining how some of the Falklands/Malvinas myths were developed and how specific British and Argentine artistic texts respond to them, I demonstrate that, in spite of vast cultural and historical differences between Britain and Argentina, their respective sets of myths follow similar patterns. My definition of “myth” is taken largely from the writings of Roland Barthes. In his article “Myth Today” (1972), he discusses how a myth pushes aside or “alienates” the meaning associated with a particular signifier, leaving an empty form ready to receive a new concept. This in turn results in a mythologized signification that distorts the 1 meaning without completely erasing it. In other words, the mythologizers in question attempt to push aside whatever signified that the islands might have had, and replace it with the concept of their choosing. The same occurs with other elements of the conflict, from the soldiers, equipment and weapons, to the respective national leaders, and to the war itself. Because these mythic significations are intentionally imposed, and because they create an altered version of reality, I also refer to them as “fictions.” I have borrowed this term from Kevin Foster, who uses it as a synonym for myth in the Barthesian sense, and also from Nicolás Shumway, who gives the name “guiding fictions” to the national identity myths he discusses in his book The Invention of Argentina (1991). These fictions, or myths, are constructed ideas about national history and identity, which tend to influence present attitudes and actions. I will elaborate further on my definitions of myth and fiction, as well as provide a list of specific myths associated with the Falklands/Malvinas, in the methodology section of this Introduction. As has just been noted, scholars from both Britain and Argentina have studied nationalist myths. A number of British scholars have also examined how Britain’s nationalist myths were applied specifically to the 1982 conflict. Kevin Foster explains why such a study is valuable. In his book Fighting Fictions (1999), he writes that Falklands War myths have set a dangerous precedent by making it seem that going to war can actually have a healthy effect on society. He suggests that his book can help readers to recognize the discursive strategies used by the government and the media to create these harmful illusions, and to resist them, thus helping prevent future destruction by warfare in the name of the public good (156). Foster’s demythologizing project is just one of several on both sides of the conflict. These texts explore different myths in various manifestations, through a number of viewpoints and methodologies. A synthesis of their discoveries, which I provide in this Introduction and amplify in Chapter One, will serve to create a more complete picture of the Falklands/Malvinas myths and how they have been generated and interpreted. I cannot say whether this will actually enable readers to recognize and resist war-promoting myths that emerge now or in the future. Nevertheless, this dissertation should give a clear picture of how the artistic intelligentsia, as well as some of the participants, would weigh the benefits in view of the sacrifices of the Falklands/Malvinas War. Readers both British and Argentinean might be surprised to 2 see the similarities between their respective myths about the islands and the war. A greater understanding of both their own mythic constructions, as well as those of the other side, might help them to see through the fictional and emotional buildup, and find more mutually acceptable solutions to their still-unresolved dispute. I hope that this dissertation at least provides the beginnings of this greater understanding. I will begin with a brief history of the dispute. Knowing these events will enhance the reader’s understanding of both the primary and the secondary texts discussed in this dissertation. A summary of these texts is provided after the historical background. Next I discuss my methodology in more depth, followed by a brief sketch of how the dissertation is organized. I conclude this Introduction by listing and briefly explaining the major Falklands
Load more

Recommended publications
  • In the Shadow of Empire and Nation : Chilean Migration to the United
    IN THE SHADOW OF EMPIRE AND NATION: CHILEAN MIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1950 By Cristián Alberto Doña Reveco A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Sociology History 2012 ABSTRACT IN THE SHADOW OF EMPIRE AND NATION: CHILEAN MIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1950 By Cristián Alberto Doña Reveco This dissertation deals with how Chilean emigrants who have migrated to the US since the 1950s remember and define their migration decision in connection to changing historical processes in both the country of origin and that of destination. Using mainly oral histories collected from 30 Chileans I compare the processes that led to their migration; their memories of Chile at the time of migration; the arrival to the United States, as well as their intermediate migrations to other countries; their memories of Chile during the visits to the country of origin; and their self identifications with the countries of origin and destination. I also use census data and migration entry data to characterize and analyze the different waves of Chilean migration to the United States. I separate each wave by a major historical moment. The first wave commences at the end of World War II and the beginnings of the Cold War; the second with the military coup of September 11, 1973; the third with the economic crisis of 1982; and the fourth with the return to democratic governments in 1990. Connecting the oral histories, migration data and historiographies to current approaches to migration decision-making, the study of social memory, and the construction of migrant identities, this dissertation explores the interplay of these multiple factors in the social constructions underlying the decisions to migrate.
    [Show full text]
  • Segunda Sección
    Segunda Sección Buenos Aires, lunes 24 de junio de 2019 Año CXXVII Número 34.140 Los documentos que aparecen en el BOLETÍN OFICIAL DE LA REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA serán tenidos por auténticos y obligatorios Segunda Sección 3. Edictos Judiciales por el efecto de esta publicación y por comunicados y suficientemente 1. Contratos sobre Personas Jurídicas 4. Partidos Políticos circulados dentro de todo el territorio nacional (Decreto Nº 659/1947). La edición electrónica del Boletín Oficial adquiere validez jurídica en 2. Convocatorias y Avisos Comerciales 5. Información y Cultura virtud del Decreto N° 207/2016. SUMARIO Avisos Nuevos CONTRATOS SOBRE PERSONAS JURÍDICAS SOCIEDADES ANÓNIMAS .......................................................................................................................... 3 SOCIEDADES POR ACCIÓN SIMPLIFICADA ............................................................................................ 13 SOCIEDADES DE RESPONSABILIDAD LIMITADA ................................................................................... 26 OTRAS SOCIEDADES ................................................................................................................................. 36 CONVOCATORIAS Y AVISOS COMERCIALES CONVOCATORIAS ....................................................................................................................................... 38 AVISOS COMERCIALES .............................................................................................................................. 42 REMATES
    [Show full text]
  • Imperial Nostalgia: Victorian Values, History and Teenage Fiction in Britain
    RONALD PAUL Imperial Nostalgia: Victorian Values, History and Teenage Fiction in Britain In his pamphlet, The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, on the seizure of French government power in 1851 by Napoleon’s grandson, Louis, Karl Marx makes the following famous comment about the way in which political leaders often dress up their own ideological motives and actions in the guise of the past in order to give them greater historical legitimacy: The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living. And just when they seem engaged in revolutionizing themselves and things, in creating something that has never yet existed, precisely in such periods of revolutionary crisis they anxiously conjure up the spirits of the past to their service and borrow from them names, bat- tle-cries, and costumes in order to present the new scene of world history in this time-honoured disguise and this borrowed language.1 One historically contentious term that has been recycled in recent years in the public debate in Britain is that of “Victorian values”. For most of the 20th century, the word “Victorian” was associated with negative connotations of hypercritical morality, brutal industrial exploitation and colonial oppression. However, it was Mrs Thatcher who first gave the word a more positive political spin in the 1980s with her unabashed celebration of Victorian laissez-faire capitalism and patriotic fervour. This piece of historical obfuscation was aimed at disguising the grim reality of her neoliberal policies of economic privatisation, anti-trade union legislation, cut backs in the so-called “Nanny” Welfare State and the gunboat diplomacy of the Falklands War.
    [Show full text]
  • This Thesis Comes Within Category D
    * SHL ITEM BARCODE 19 1721901 5 REFERENCE ONLY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON THESIS Degree Year i ^Loo 0 Name of Author COPYRIGHT This Is a thesis accepted for a Higher Degree of the University of London, it is an unpubfished typescript and the copyright is held by the author. All persons consulting the thesis must read and abide by the Copyright Declaration below. COPYRIGHT DECLARATION I recognise that the copyright of the above-described thesis rests with the author and that no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. LOANS Theses may not be lent to individuals, but the Senate House Library may lend a copy to approved libraries within the United Kingdom, for consultation solely on the .premises of those libraries. Application should be made to: Inter-Library Loans, Senate House Library, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. REPRODUCTION University of London theses may not be reproduced without explicit written permission from the Senate House Library. Enquiries should be addressed to the Theses Section of the Library. Regulations concerning reproduction vary according to the date of acceptance of the thesis and are listed below as guidelines. A. Before 1962. Permission granted only upon the prior written consent of the author. (The Senate House Library will provide addresses where possible). B. 1962 -1974. In many cases the author has agreed to permit copying upon completion of a Copyright Declaration. C. 1975 -1988. Most theses may be copied upon completion of a Copyright Declaration. D. 1989 onwards. Most theses may be copied.
    [Show full text]
  • The Spread of Violent Civil Conflict: Rare, State-Driven, and Preventable
    1 The Spread of Violent Civil Conflict: Rare, State-Driven, and Preventable by Nathan Wolcott Black B.A. History Rice University, 2006 SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITCAL SCIENCE IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE AT THE MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY JUNE 2012 © 2012 Nathan Wolcott Black. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Signature of Author: __________________________________________________ Department of Political Science April 30, 2012 Certified by: __________________________________________________________ Kenneth A. Oye Associate Professor of Political Science Thesis Supervisor Accepted by:__________________________________________________________ Roger Petersen Arthur and Ruth Sloan Professor of Political Science Chairman, Graduate Program Committee 2 3 The Spread of Violent Civil Conflict: Rare, State-Driven, and Preventable by Nathan Wolcott Black Submitted to the Department of Political Science of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on April 30, 2012 in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science ABSTRACT This dissertation advances and tests an explanation for the spread of violent civil conflict from one state to another. The fear of such “substate conflict contagion” is frequently invoked by American policymakers as a justification for military intervention in ongoing substate conflicts — the argument these policymakers often make is that conflicts left uncontained now will spread and become a more pertinent security threat later. My State Action Explanation is that substate conflict contagion is not the sole product of nonstate factors such as transnational rebel networks and arms flows, nor of the structural factors such as poverty that make internal conflict more likely in general.
    [Show full text]
  • 198J. M. Thornton Phd.Pdf
    Kent Academic Repository Full text document (pdf) Citation for published version Thornton, Joanna Margaret (2015) Government Media Policy during the Falklands War. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent. DOI Link to record in KAR https://kar.kent.ac.uk/50411/ Document Version UNSPECIFIED Copyright & reuse Content in the Kent Academic Repository is made available for research purposes. Unless otherwise stated all content is protected by copyright and in the absence of an open licence (eg Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher, author or other copyright holder. Versions of research The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record. Enquiries For any further enquiries regarding the licence status of this document, please contact: [email protected] If you believe this document infringes copyright then please contact the KAR admin team with the take-down information provided at http://kar.kent.ac.uk/contact.html Government Media Policy during the Falklands War A thesis presented by Joanna Margaret Thornton to the School of History, University of Kent In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of History University of Kent Canterbury, Kent January 2015 ©Joanna Thornton All rights reserved 2015 Abstract This study addresses Government media policy throughout the Falklands War of 1982. It considers the effectiveness, and charts the development of, Falklands-related public relations’ policy by departments including, but not limited to, the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
    [Show full text]
  • Power, Coercion, Legitimacy and the Press in Pinochet's Chile a Dissertation Presented to the Faculty Of
    Writing the Opposition: Power, Coercion, Legitimacy and the Press in Pinochet's Chile A dissertation presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Brad T. Eidahl December 2017 © 2017 Brad T. Eidahl. All Rights Reserved. 2 This dissertation titled Writing the Opposition: Power, Coercion, Legitimacy and the Press in Pinochet's Chile by BRAD T. EIDAHL has been approved for the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences by Patrick M. Barr-Melej Professor of History Robert Frank Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 ABSTRACT EIDAHL, BRAD T., Ph.D., December 2017, History Writing the Opposition: Power, Coercion, Legitimacy and the Press in Pinochet's Chile Director of Dissertation: Patrick M. Barr-Melej This dissertation examines the struggle between Chile’s opposition press and the dictatorial regime of Augusto Pinochet Ugarte (1973-1990). It argues that due to Chile’s tradition of a pluralistic press and other factors, and in bids to strengthen the regime’s legitimacy, Pinochet and his top officials periodically demonstrated considerable flexibility in terms of the opposition media’s ability to publish and distribute its products. However, the regime, when sensing that its grip on power was slipping, reverted to repressive measures in its dealings with opposition-media outlets. Meanwhile, opposition journalists challenged the very legitimacy Pinochet sought and further widened the scope of acceptable opposition under difficult circumstances. Ultimately, such resistance contributed to Pinochet’s defeat in the 1988 plebiscite, initiating the return of democracy.
    [Show full text]
  • A Scoping Study for Potential Community-Based Carbon Offsetting Schemes in the Falkland Islands
    A SCOPING STUDY FOR POTENTIAL COMMUNITY-BASED CARBON OFFSETTING SCHEMES IN THE FALKLAND ISLANDS Chris Evans, Jonathan Ritson, Jim McAdam, Stefanie Carter, Andrew Stanworth and Katherine Ross Date: revised Sept 2020 Undertaken by Funded by Recommended citation: Evans, C. et al (2020). A scoping study for potential community‐based carbon offsetting schemes in the Falkland Islands. Report to Falklands Conservation, Stanley. Author affiliations: Chris Evans (UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology) Jonathan Ritson (University of Manchester), Jim McAdam (Queen’s University Belfast and Falkland Islands Trust), Stefanie Carter (South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute), Andrew Stanworth (Falklands Conservation) and Katherine Ross (Falklands Conservation). Falklands Conservation: Jubilee Villas, 41 Ross Road, Stanley, Falkland Islands Corresponding author: [email protected] www.falklandsconservation.com Charity Information: Falklands Conservation: Registered Charity No. 1073859. A company limited by guarantee in England & Wales No. 3661322 Registered Office: 2nd Floor, Regis House, 45 King William Street, London, EC4R 9AN Telephone: +44 (0) 1767 693710, [email protected] Registered as an Overseas Company in the Falkland Islands ii Contents A SCOPING STUDY FOR POTENTIAL COMMUNITY‐BASED CARBON OFFSETTING SCHEMES IN THE FALKLAND ISLANDS .................................................................................................................................. i Summary ................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Sobre Héroes Y Tumbas the Park and Political Logics of Memory in Argentina
    sobre héroes y tumbas the park and political logics of memory in argentina daniel james for the degree of doctor of philosophy in sociology at the london school of economics 101,571 words 1 declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others. I consider the work submitted to be a complete thesis fit for examination. I authorise that, if a degree is awarded, an electronic copy of my thesis will be deposited in LSE Theses Online (in accordance with the published deposit agreement) held by the British Library of Political and Economic Science and that, except as provided for in regulation 41, it will be made available for public reference. I authorise the School to supply a copy of the abstract of my thesis for inclusion in any published list of theses offered for higher degrees in British universities or in any supplement thereto, or for consultation in any central file of abstracts of such theses. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. In accordance with the Regulations, I have deposited an electronic copy of it in LSE Theses Online held by the British Library of Political and Economic Science and have granted permission for my thesis to be made available for public reference. Otherwise, this thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent.
    [Show full text]
  • Designer Notes
    Designer’s Notes I started work on this game several years ago at the request of Rich Hamilton. I am sure I tried his patience as progress was always slow and sometimes non-existent. While I had helped to playtest Soviet – Afghan Wars and even designed a few scenarios for that game, I had a lot to learn about putting a game together from the ground up. I am still learning as I am sure the play-testers would be happy to confirm. When I was told that the subject of the game would be the Falklands War of 1982, my initial thought was that it would have to be combined with some other conflicts, such as Grenada and Panama to provide enough material for scenarios. However, the more I read about the war, I realized that this was not necessary at all. Unlike any other tactical wargame I am aware of, in Squad Battles Falklands, there are scenarios that cover almost every action above squad level that actually occurred, along with several that did not occur, but might have. This gives the gamer, as well as the designer, a change to fully experience the conflict from beginning to end. It also provides a number of small scenarios utilizing elite troops, such as the SAS, SBS and the Argentine Commandos This game uses the weapon values from Squad Battles Tour of Duty, with only a few changes. HEAT type weapons have a reduced lethality, but the flag that doubles their lethality against vehicles. This was started in Soviet – Afghan Wars and I have retained it.
    [Show full text]
  • Thomas De Waal the Caucasus
    THE CAUCASUS This page intentionally left blank THE CAUCASUS AN INTRODUCTION Thomas de Waal 1 2010 1 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2010 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data de Waal, Thomas. The Caucasus : an introduction / Thomas de Waal. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-19-539976-9; 978-0-19-539977-6 (pbk.) 1. Caucasus Region—Politics and government. 2. Caucasus Region—History. 3. Caucasus Region—Relations—Russia. 4. Russia—Relations—Caucasus Region. 5. Caucasus Region—Relations—Soviet Union. 6. Soviet Union—Relations—Caucasus Region. I. Title. DK509.D33 2010 947.5—dc22 2009052376 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper To Zoe This page intentionally left blank Contents Introduction 1 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Frames Cinema Journal
    Frames ISSN 2053-8812 Cinema Journal Peer-Reviewed | Open Access | Biannual Argentine Documentaries on the Malvinas (Falklands) War: Between Testimony and Televisual Archive By Mirta Varela [1] Numerous documentary films and made-for-television films discussed the Malvinas War (Falklands War) from 1984 to the present. In them, the use of archival television material and interviews with veterans and their families are the two most frequent means of reconstruction of the war that took place between April 2 and June 14 1982, . The use of first person testimony has been one of the hallmarks of the documentary [2] during the period known in Argentina’s history as the “transition to democracy”, a period spanning approximately from 1981 to 1990. While the dates and characteristics that define the period are debated, in [3] contrast, there is consensus about the centrality of the Malvinas War during this transition. The defeat of the Argentine army hastened the end of the government of General Galtieri, the de facto president in 1982, and the military dictatorship was forced to hold democratic elections in 1983. Nevertheless, the cinema of that period —in line with what was happening in Argentine society— favoured the exposure and denouncement of issues related to repression, torture and disappearances that took place during the military dictatorship between 1976 to 1983. The human rights organizations focused on claims that led to prosecutions and convictions of military heads. In this context the Malvinas War, strongly supported by Argentine society, became a difficult issue to interpret and process. The few films that addressed the conflict tended to assimilate the soldiers sent to the war with the victims of state terrorism, especially upon learning of the cruelties suffered by many Argentine soldiers at the hands of their very own officers.
    [Show full text]