We touched on how, in “the Crazy Woman and the Tale of the Crime”, by Ricardo Piglia, Anahí represents the Argentinian society as a whole; however, we never really dove deep into it. Therefore, I want to expand on the little hints and big clues that demonstrate Anahí as symbolism of the post-neoliberalism social structure. For example, Anahí kissed the fat man’s feet in exchange for “a thousand pesos” (558). If Anahí represented Argentinian society and in the process, Argentina as a whole, then the fat man represents American neoliberalism. Thus, it symbolizes the kind of relationship between the two countries during such a time. Therefore, the bar, the New Deal, represents all the different countries in the world that America has tamed, with money, to further its liberalistic policies.
In order to truly understand this short story, one must read between the lines. Yet, reading between the lines has an entirely different meaning in this text as Renzi had to read between the delirious lines of Anahí in order to understand what she was trying to say. Just like how Argentina had to rely on literature to maintain free speech / history and how we had to delve deeper into this rabbit hole to figure out why this Anahí is so significant.
The relationship between Anahí and Evita Peron further illiterates on Anahí being a symbol for Argentina. Notice how Anahí “was a queen and was a friend of Evita Peron”(561). The past tense is important because it implies that Anahí was friends with Evita at some point. However, in Evita’s biography there is no mention of Anahí anywhere; because it would only make sense if she was never real in the first place and a symbolic representation for Argentina. Anahí being a queen also suggests that Argentina was way better off before America intervened.
This literature acted as the “fourth estate” for Argentina when all other forms of resistance or criticism has failed. I believe this makes it so that if this form of fictional literature as critique were to be silenced, then it would cause mass suspicion and ultimately cause more harm than good to neoliberalism.
Hi James, I really enjoyed your post! I had overlooked it at first, but the representation of Anahí as Argentina and Almada as America is definitely apparent upon rereading the story. I wonder if we can draw similar parallels in Anahí’s interactions with other characters. For instance, we could compare Rinaldi’s and Luna’s dismissive attitude towards her ramblings to the relationship between the more powerful neoliberalist America and the previously socialist Argentina, or even to the Argentine government’s treatment of lower class and marginalized citizens and the subsequent echoing of this attitude by the general public… or maybe I’m reading too far into this! Ultimately, however, it is clear that Anahí plays a critical role in Piglia’s critique of late 20th century Argentina and its conflicts—both with America and with its own citizens.
Hey James! I really like your post because I think it engages with the text in a meta-meta way (like a double meta, if that makes sense). In saying that Ananí’s words had a deeper meaning for Renzi once he read between the lines, and that we then need to read between the lines AGAIN in-class to decode Anahí’s role in the text (which Renzi himself wrote), signifies all the ways in which literature can provoke awareness that goes beyond a simple understanding of narrative/plot. It also demonstrates, I think, how aware authors are of the messages they can transmit, which connects to the idea of Piglia using this story as a version of the “fourth estate.”
Excellent engagement with the story, James! “Fat” in your reading becomes metaphorical, and it matches up well with caricatures of the US in Latin American cartoons of the time, in which US businessmen were often portrayed as fat and greedy. Great interpretation!