In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Eduardo P. Archetti Multiple Masculinitie s The World s o f Tang o an d Football i n Argentin a I his chapter focuses o n the meanings of masculinity displayed in classical tang o text s an d i n footbal l arenas. 1 Sinc e th e en d o f th e 1920 s Argentine export s t o Europ e an d th e worl d hav e include d tang o music , choreography, singers , and musicians . Football (soccer ) players hav e bee n another export. Over the years, tango and football have become representative of performin g Argentine s an d a pervasive globa l image of "genuine " Argentine cultural products. Very few Argentines will deny that tango and football certainly played and still play the double role of public mirrors and models of masculinities. Cornwall an d Lindisfarn e observ e tha t differen t image s an d behavior s contained i n th e notio n o f masculinit y ar e no t alway s coheren t an d tha t "they may b e competing , contradictor y an d mutuall y undermining." 2 Competing masculinitie s ar e produced an d negotiate d i n differen t socia l arenas with differen t actors . The world o f tang o is explicitly mad e o f th e complex relations between men and women. In contrast, the world of foot ball is exclusively male, an encounter in the stadium (and in the history of clubs an d competitions ) betwee n competin g group s o f mal e player s an d 200 • 13 Multiple Masculinities * 20 1 supporters. Consequently, analysis of tango lyrics and football chant s must reflect the complexities of models and idioms of masculinity. Men deploy their manhood in social contexts where class origin, historical experiences, rituals, and accepted or subversive discourses are constitutive elements . Thus, gendere d socia l an d cultura l difference s exclud e a n explicit consideration of a "hegemonic" masculinity in Argentine society.3 The analysis of tango lyrics is rooted in the classical period of the tangocancion (tango-song) fro m 191 7 to 1935 . Most significan t tang o narrative s were produced in that period an d the texts chosen are key elements in the existing charter of Argentine tango "mythology."4 Tango poetics relates not only to "universal" emotions like sadness, happiness, fear, and anxiety bu t also to those of love, pride, guilt, shame, and honor. All are fundamental i n the articulation of individual identity and sociocultural processes. The tango, dispossessed of its history and particularities, has been transformed i n the Argentine society of today into the "mythical " language of gendered emotions . I t is , i n spit e o f differen t attempt s t o transfor m it s authoritative framework , a kind o f "frozen " univers e o f meanings . Jorge Luis Borges suggested that, as in the case of the Iliad, al l tango texts may melt into a single poem, or that an ambitious poet will be able to write such a poem.5 This observation still makes sense. Tango lyric s reflec t differen t type s o f love : love as duty, passion, dee p friendship, and, finally, romantic love.6 The first modern tango-cancion tha t we kno w o f wa s "M i noch e triste " (M y sa d night) , writte n b y Pascua l Contursi in 1917 . This lyric inaugurated a new narrative of failed romanc e told by a man in an intimate and confessional form.7 The "theme" of love as something almos t impossibl e i s common . Th e me n o f thes e storie s lov e with such intensity that the risk of rejection is correspondingly overwhelm ing . At th e sam e time, lyrics revaloriz e (hetero)sexuality , sexua l relations , and sensual love. A constant topic is women who abandon men. These texts portray a sad man remembering his lost happiness. In all cases the listeners (readers) are confronted wit h a couple living together without being married. They have no children and the woman is always leaving the house. In literal terms, she is "stepping out" into the open world. In contrast, the image of a man passing through an identity crisis, unable to control the situation, is melancholically reiterated. The way he speaks about sadness, nostalgia, the loss...

Share