Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: June 4, 2021 at 11:05:14 AM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-LatAm]: Hermosilla on Cosse, 'Mafalda: A Social and > Political History of Latin America's Global Comic' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Isabella Cosse. Mafalda: A Social and Political History of Latin > America's Global Comic. Translated by Laura Pérez Carrara. Latin > America in Translation Series. Durham Duke University Press, 2019. > Illustrations. 288 pp. $26.95 (paper), ISBN 978-1-4780-0638-1. > > Reviewed by Matías Hermosilla (SUNY Stony Brook) > Published on H-LatAm (June, 2021) > Commissioned by Casey M. Lurtz > > In 1998, Anne Rubenstein's _Bad Language, Naked Ladies, and Other > Threats to the Nation: A Political History of Comic Books in Mexico_ > led scholars to recognize that cartoons are useful sources for > navigating the political, social, and cultural history of Latin > America. Two decades later, that narrative was reinforced by the > publication of Isabella Cosse's _Mafalda: A Social and Political > History of Latin America's Global Comic_. Cosse's book is a crucial > contribution to the study of popular culture and humor in Latin > America, showing that comics retain, and can be used to access, the > social, political, and cultural dynamics of past eras. > > Cosse's book navigates what she calls the "most famous and popular > Latin American comic strip in the world," _Mafalda _(p. 1). The > cartoonist Quino's _Mafalda_ documented the story of a rebellious and > empowered middle-class Argentinian girl who confronted the challenges > of life in the 1960s. By following this comic, Cosse traces the > transmission of political, cultural, and social imaginaries from the > local/national level to a regional/global scale. But how and why did > this comic strip that started in Argentina in 1964 gain global > recognition? According to Cosse, it is because _Mafalda_ represented > two ideas that the entire world was grappling with in the 1960s: the > consolidation of the middle class and the challenge of social > modernization (new technology, urban change, radical youth culture, > feminism, and the modification of gender roles). In a way, Mafalda > was a rebel and a vanguardist character who challenged the > traditional family model and was always a "step ahead" of the > political and cultural mainstream. > > Cosse's arguments are posed in discourse with the scholarship on the > global 1960s in Latin America, which tries to de-isolate the history > of that region by studying Latin America from a global perspective > and, at the same time, explicate the ways the Third World influenced > the First.[1] Cosse used primary sources from archives in Argentina, > Mexico, and Spain, and also drew sources from Italy and Chile. The > project required a visual and discursive analysis of comic strips and > films, but also the recording of interviews with Quino, his wife and > agent, Alicia Colombo, publishers, booksellers, readers, and fans > from all around the world. Additionally, Cosse accessed Quino's > personal archive, as well as newspaper, governmental, and university > archives. Brought together, these materials gave life to the social > history of _Mafalda_ and the societies that the cartoon reflected and > dialogued with. > > The book is organized chronologically into five chapters. Chapter 1 > explores the birth of the comic strip in a political magazine in > 1964. Fascinatingly, Cosse confronts standard assumptions about > political polarization in 1960s Argentina. She argues that the > Mafalda character proved the modernity of the 1960s, and particularly > the rise of the middle class, and challenged the cultural basis of > Argentine society. Chapter 2 explores the history of Argentina from > 1967 to 1976, a decade marked by political polarization, increased > violence, and state terrorism. In this chapter, Cosse traces > discourses on _Mafalda_ during the Juan Carlos Onganía dictatorship > (1966-69), when the right conceived of the Mafalda character as an > intellectualized girl who symbolized the dangerous rebelliousness of > youth while those on the left viewed her as an expression of the > privileged petite bourgeoisie. > > Chapter 3 brings in the global context. It is a model of effective > global history scholarship. Tracing the networks of circulation of > _Mafalda_ outside Argentina, specifically in Mexico, Spain, and > Italy, the author argues that there was a "transnational community" > that came together around concerns about modernization and that a > cultural creation from the Third World subverted the "traditional" > directionality of global cultural circulation, proving that creations > from the "South" can have relevance in the "North." Chapter 4 > refocuses the discussion on Argentina by showing the challenges that > _Mafalda_ faced during the violent dictatorship that started in 1976. > The cartoon strip earned great cachet as a symbol of > anti-authoritarianism and, as a result, was lauded when democracy was > restored in 1983. Finally, chapter 5 analyzes the historical legacy > of _Mafalda_, the nostalgia of the 1960s, and its relevance in > Argentina and around the globe through its consumption by > transgenerational audiences. > > Cosse's book is a model for historians studying popular culture. > Although I wish it dealt more extensively with the comic's global > impact, the book employs a unique methodology to demonstrate how > local imaginaries can influence a global audience. This book opens up > new questions about the potential of popular culture as a primary > source to study the past. It also questions the narrative of Latin > American historical isolation, imposed through the narrow study of > national dynamics, by showcasing the success of a comic strip in > which an Argentinian girl shared her opinions with the world. > > Note > > [1]. Some of the important books are: Eric Zolov, _The Last Good > Neighbor: Mexico in the Global Sixties_ (Durham, NC: Duke University > Press, 2020); Chen Jian et al., eds., _The Routledge Handbook of the > Global Sixties_ (New York: Routledge, 2018); Patrick Barr-Melej, > _Psychedelic Chile: Youth Counterculture and Politics on the Road to > Socialism and Dictatorship_ (Chapel Hill: University of North > Carolina Press, 2017); Aldo Marchesi, _Latin America's Radical Left > _(New York: Oxford University Press, 2017); Vania Markarian, > _Uruguay, 1968: Student Activism from Global Counterculture to > Molotov Cocktails _(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2016); > Valeria Manzano, _The Age of Youth in Argentina: Culture, Politics, > and Sexuality from Peron to Videla_ (Chapel Hill: University of North > Carolina Press, 2014); Victoria Langland, _Speaking of Flowers: > Student Movement and the Making and Remembering of 1968 in Military > Brazil_ (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013); and Quinn > Slobodian, _Foreign Front: Third World Politics in Sixties West > Germany _(Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2012). > > Citation: Matías Hermosilla. Review of Cosse, Isabella, _Mafalda: A > Social and Political History of Latin America's Global Comic_. > H-LatAm, H-Net Reviews. June, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55970 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#8984): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/8984 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/83311213/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
