Mafalda’s political and cultural heritage

Mexico City (apro) is several generations ahead of the works of Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci or Marta Harnecker, who made Marxism “accessible”. Indeed, The Communist ManifestoThe Complete Works of Marx and Engels, published by Marx and Friedrich Engels on February 21, 1848 in London, England, has been circulated for 172 years and, according to historian Enrique Seymour, has spread as widely as Bible, And translated into more than 100 languages. Perhaps Quino’s “Mafalda”, first published 56 years ago – in the magazine on September 19, 1964 front page——It will take more time to convince those who have not yet believed in its universality and transcendence. Currently, the book has been translated into more than 30 languages. Mafalda: A Social and Political History”, published in 2014 by the Argentine Economic and Cultural Foundation, its author Isabella Cosse (Montevideo, 1966) said that two years after the comic’s publication, seeing its success, editor Jorge Álvarez decided to publish it in a book format, “which sold out in a day.” 25,000 copies were sold in a month. He added that by 1968, the book had sold 130,000 copies. It also continued to be published in newspapers in the provinces of Argentina: “Some estimate that by that time, two million people read it every day. Possible exaggerations aside, this figure suggests that Mafalda This has become a social phenomenon.”

We recommend you: Mafalda and the whole world are in mourning: its creator Quino has passed away

Keno certainly doesn’t mind wondering if his strip will turn out like appear how capital, which is still being read. If Mafalda politicizes millions of readers around the world, I would insist that this was not its purpose. Coser’s book quotes an interview with the cartoonist by the late Argentine journalist Osvaldo Soriano. In it, he admits that his cartoons have no political purpose, but refer to the human condition. The author mentions: “Soriano insists that Kino’s humor “has a great ferocity against certain political forms, systems of life.” The cartoonist admits: “No.” The brutality is directed at the human condition. The exploitation of man by man is an innate phenomenon of mankind, which has been developing for five thousand years. I don’t see how anything can be changed. That’s why I think humor doesn’t work; of course, it’s the only thing I have. At least drawing makes me funny, but thinking doesn’t. And: “My theatricality is that I have no political ideas. ” I would be happy to believe in something. Some people say that I am a Marxist, but I haven’t read Marx, I’m embarrassed to say, but it’s the truth. “I don’t believe in anything… Man is the only creature that hurts himself. ” But, as people often say, “put your hands down”, Mafalda has been an BroadCast Unitedlectual and political reference for many people in the world. And even more in Latin America. Daniel Samper Pisano tells in the preface of this book All MafaldaHe quoted that in various public disputes with politicians and rulers, “when they bombarded passages from Kant and Churchill” Mafalda. Yes, given the politicians’ unconscious humor, it’s easy to remember Keno for his good work.

Cultural Heritage

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recognized the cultural value of the zone and its central character. In April 2014, an exhibition was held at its headquarters in Paris, France. Mafalda, 50-year-old girlon the occasion of Book and Copyright Day. When Kino used his characters to depict the ten commandments of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, drawn up in 1989, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) took it as its own symbol. Mafalda seems to represent a very specific moment in the story, from the late sixties, part of the seventies and even the eighties. The heyday of the Beatles, the student movement of 1968, the militarized regimes in Latin America. But reading it today it still retains its freshness and validity. His sense of humor about commercialism represented by the grocer’s son Manolito is the same. The middle class and its desire to rise by buying goods imposed by capitalism and consumer society, such as cars and fashion; the bureaucratic work of office workers, represented by his own father. Coase has already quoted a passage from one of the first comic strips of 1964, in which a dialogue between a girl and her father takes place: – Are we rich or poor? He answers: – Neither rich nor poor … We become middle class. Mafalda answers: – Will we come? Will we become middle class? Tell me…is it worth it to be middle class?

You can also read: ‘Quino’ denies Mafalda was used in Argentina’s anti-abortion campaign

The mother is not immune either, because if Mafalda criticizes the traditional role of women, and her friend Susanita – also a symbol of racism and classism – openly aspires to such a role, her attitude is even more vitriolic when it comes to her mother. Cosse also said that one day he blurted out to her: “You know what, Mom? “I’m going to go to kindergarten and study hard so that tomorrow I won’t be a frustrated and mediocre woman like you!” ” They are not jokes. Quino laughs at Mafalda herself, the one who puts half the world on the pillar of shame. That is why it remains outside what is considered “political correctness” today. Her social, political, “human” criticism – as Quino herself defines it – is beyond doubt, because Mafalda’s reflections are fresh and accurate, certainly meticulous and sharp, but not malicious. Unless the so-called “Glass Generation” wants to put him on trial by the Inquisition for demanding political correctness. From a historical point of view, by capturing certain moments in Latin America (artistic and cultural, political and social), Mafalda has become part of the world’s cultural heritage even before Quino’s death. One day it will be proposed for inclusion in the UNESCO list.