Alegoría e ironía bajo censura en la Argentina del Proceso

293 Pages·2009·1.47 MB·English

by  Mara Favoretto

Alegoría e ironía bajo censura en la Argentina del Proceso

Mara Favoretto

Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

April 2009

School of Languages and Linguistics
Faculty of Arts
The University of Melbourne
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Abstract

During the period of military government in Argentina (1976 – 1983) a machinery
of censorship was imposed. The state had a systematic plan of cultural repression and
manipulation of public opinion. Even though there was not an official censorship office,
the regime had an organised and sophisticated operating control over publication and
public performance. However, the dissident writers and lyricists examined in this study
developed strategies of resistance that depended largely on allegory and irony to convey
subtle and oblique oppositional messages. By means of a detailed rhetorical analysis of a
varied literary and popular corpus this study examines the functioning of allegory and
irony under the constraints of censorship. The corpus includes the musical production of
one of the most outstanding representatives of the rock nacional movement and four
novels. The fictional narratives selected are divided into two symmetrical groups: in each
group, one novel is written by a female writer and the other by a male author; one has
reached a large readership and popularity while the other had a delayed reception but has
won critical acclaim.
Far from repressing forms of expression, the regime’s censorship policies fueled
creativity in authors and composers. Irony and allegory were adapted to new necessities.
While the former was used as a means to avoid political commitment, a use identified in
this study as evasive irony, the latter schooled the reader in alternative ways of thought at
the same time as it allowed multiple interpretations. This thesis shows that irony and
allegory, as literary figures, can evolve and assume new functions, adapting themselves to
the different political circumstances in which they are used.
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This is to certify that

(i) the thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD except where
indicated,
(ii) due ackowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used,
(iii) the thesis is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables,
bibliographies and appendices.
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A Favo
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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Chris Andrews, who
continually supported my project and enriched it with his genius and inquisitive spirit.
Without his guidance, patience and persistence the completion of this thesis would not
have been possible.
I would like to thank the Co- supervisor of my thesis and Convener of Spanish, Dr.
Lara Anderson, for her constant support and encouragement during the whole process.
I would also like to thank Ms. Martha Herrera, who shared her personal library
with me and engaged in long chats that kept my enthusiasm alive.
I am deeply grateful to the University of Melbourne, which provided me with
financial support and access to the best libraries and databases to be able to complete my
project.
Finally, my thanks to my son, my family and friends for their love, understanding
and patience that sustained me to the end of my PhD.
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