From its very beginning, the Argentine Proceso dictatorship ("Proceso de Reorganización Nacional") of 1976-1983 proposed a single "Argentine Way of Life" ("ser nacional argentino"), a national identity to be shared by all Argentines, which was based on an exaggerated ideal of the Hispanic tradition: a strong heterosexual masculine figure and a submissive and obedient female figure. In its declarations and official communiqués, the Proceso regime attempted to recreate an imaginary past, which amounted to a caricature of classic ideals such as the "Angel of the home" ("Angel del hogar"), and the "Latin Honor Code". But this repressive machinery of censorship and propaganda was countered by another "machine," a rock band headed by Charly García called La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros. The poetic discourse of the La Máquina subtly contradicted that of the regime, at a time in which any dissent was extremely dangerous. In this study, we shall analyze the monolithic and idealized discourse of the ser nacional, which the regime imposed, in contrast to the more realistic and polyphonic vision of national identity as seen in the lyrics of Charly García's songs. Whereas the regime bombarded Argentines with rhetoric about obedient wives and daughters, in La Máquina songs, women are protagonists: heroines, goddesses, and dancers. García replaces the nineteenth-century "Angel of the home" proposed by the regime with his own angels: the independent women of the twentieth century.
rock and dictatorship; rock in Argentina; Charly García and La Máquina