Disappearing Acts: Spectacles of Gender and Nationalism in Argentina's "Dirty War" Paperback – February 7, 1997

Diana Taylor is a brilliant writer and an obviously informed expert on the Dirty War of Argentina (1963 - 1976), a writer who has composed a Doctoral Thesis approach to her well-informed information about this misunderstood atrocity that nearly destroyed Argentina. Yet sound as her thoughts are and intensely well documented though her theories prove to be, this book is not recommended as the first line of information about this subject.Taylor's premise involves theories as to how the Dirty War, or the atmosphere under the military juntas that replaced Peronism, are based on her observations as to how the public remained fearfully silent during this time of concentration camps, torture, atrocities, and most importantly the 'desaparecidos' (or disappearing ones) whose only voices were in the quiet marches of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo. She informs us that the use of plays and spectacles attended by the Argentinians were in their own way a show of defiance to the manipulative military juntas. Performance, theatre, and poetry were the elected means of tacitly protesting the totalitarian military rule that choked this country until the fall of the juntas in the war over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands with Great Britain.While all of what Taylor has to say is interesting and novel and important, what is needed to gain the most from this heady book is more time spent educating the reader about the political and social history of Argentina. Though the "Dirty War' is at times referenced in conversations about South American politics, sadly most of what we as the general public know of what lead up to the military takeover of the government is what we glean from such feeble resources as the musical EVITA! Though Taylor attempts to reference the state of Peronism in contrasting the fall of Juan and Evita (and subsequently Isabelita) Peron as a period of hallowing the feminine influence of the 'weak' but loved leaders, she jumps too quickly into the theory of the military overthrow as a reaction to the feminine, the desecration of the female standard so toppled by the military in its abusive treatment of women and children.Where Taylor particularly shines (and there is MUCH to appreciate in this turgid, difficult to read book) is in her extended discussion of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo. Here her theories all seem to gel. What is copiously discussed in the plays, poetry, and public spectacles (and Taylor is an experienced performance artist herself) is very important information, but draws excessive focus to the sedentary response to the Dirty War.This book is doubtless an important document about a too little understood period of Argentinean history and Taylor is careful to point out similarities of public response in the US and in other countries whose governments seem less and less For and Of and By the people. I would recommend starting with more basic book about this period in time to reap the rewards that Diana Taylor has to offer in DISAPPEARING ACTS: SPECTACLES OF GENDER AND NATIONALISM IN ARGENTINA'S 'DIRTY WAR'. Grady Harp, March 05

As a graduate student of Latin-American literature, and a history buff, I can recommend this book to any uninformed individual on the Dirty War and its origins. But at the same time I would recommend that you take some of Dr. Taylor's comments with a grain of salt. Her neo-feminist attitude and strict anti-Christian stance on U.S. politics would lead some readers astray in understaning the Junta and their torture, abuse, rape, and subsequent murder of over 30,000 desaparecidos (disappeared persons).She begins the book with her analysis of a play entitled "Paso de Dos" in which a woman, who represents the "Patria" is brutally abused in a sexual encounter with a uniformed man in a mud pit - not exactly an appropriate way to begin educating the ignorant reader about Argentine history or theatre. She could have begun differently. But after having read many of the plays of Argentina, and analyzing them in a University setting, I CAN say that Argentine theatre was written in order to be a metaphorical representation of Argentine history and "Paso de Dos" does indeed serve as an accurate metaphor.Dr. Taylor's basic argument - which is well-documented with pictures, plays, and other historical sources - is that the Dirty War's inevitability lies in the struggle of violence (particularly against women), and that the "feminization" of opponents of past regimes in Argentina coupled with the loss of basic rights to the more subaltern groups of the country when the military are in power, both worked together after the regime of Juan Manuel Rosas to produce the Dirty War.She gives a brilliant analysis of the Peron regime and the power wielded by both Evita and Isbelita (which had opposite results) and she also includes vivid "testmonios" when analyzing the claims of torture on the average citizens of the country from 1976-1983. I applaud her objectivity when describing the Junta and their homophobic and sexually charged desire to create an artifical definition of what it means to be "Argentine".Now to why I give it only three stars: she does an horrific job at comparing the torture of the fascist government and their murder of the innocents of Argentina to the actions of the religious right in the U.S.A. today. As a member of what many would refer to as "the religious right", I am aghast that she would even begin to think that right-wing Christians would be in favor of creating a government even remotely similar to the Junta. Her comments in the opening chapters and the last chapter expose her misunderstanding of what it means to be Christian - because none of her comments contain the use of any Scripture, they are made from the standpoint of being a spectator, and, like most ignorant academics, she probably confuses Biblical Christianity with Roman Catholicism and sees little to no difference between them because she does not know theology.Dr. Taylor should be ashamed at even thinking of bringing American politics into a book about Fascist Argentina thirty years ago. There is NO, I repeat, NO comparison to be made between the Junta and the religious right in the U.S.A. As a Christian, my goal is to show non-believers that they are sinners, that they diserve hell, that Christ died to pay for the penalty of their sin so that they do not have to go to hell, and that by a repentant faith in Him alone one can be saved from eternal damnation. I believe that homosexuality (because she brings it up in the book) is indeed sinful - but I would never torture a homosexual. Even if I considered homosexuals my enemies (which I do not), Christ commands me to love my enemies. I also would not slit the stomach of a pregnant woman who I planned to throw out of a plane to make her body sink faster, nor use electric shocks to torture "subversives", nor even think about mixing the Catholic church - or even my own Church - with the state of a country. The consequences of mixing church with state are evident in 16th century Europe - when under Bloody Mary thousands of Protestants were murdered at the stake. The last thing a Christian would want is to give the power of the state authority over the Church and vice versa - but try telling that to Taylor - she is more concerned with praising Hilary Clinton and other liberal women in a book that is supposed to be about Argentina. Go figure.So, in conclusion: read this while only paying attention to what she has to say about Argentina and its history. That is valuable. Her commentary is not.