Argentine tango through the lens of cynicism: elements of disenchantment, pessimism, and rebelliousness in tango culture across its history (1880-1955)

This thesis argues that melancholia, malcontent, and disillusionment are the main traits present in the poetry of tango lyrics and in the spirit of the dance. Moreover, it makes the claim that far from its popular and commercially successful representation, Argentine tango has a complex character which holds certain features that could be connected with a vernacular understanding of modern cynicism. Argentine tango can indeed be taken as a paradigmatic example of the influence of cynicism in Western culture. As a potential cynic expression, tango lyrics offered a harsh, embodied critique of the traditional moral values and institutions of Argentinian society.
This thesis claims that this popular expression presents a form of apathy, pessimism and potential social criticism that is usually overlooked, ignored, or dismissed in the bleached-out Argentinian cultural export as we know it today. The tango that was accepted by the local elites and recognised internationally, is usually portrayed as a genre of passion and exotic sensuality that, simultaneously, holds a moralist and conservative social discourse. In order to consider an alternative approach, the early history of tango deserves a thorough reassessment in order to foreground some of the more troubling and confrontational features of tango in its formative years.
This research will analyse tango in its different historical stages, exploring early tangos from 1880 to 1917, arguably defined as scandalous and cheerfully defiant, as well as the period known as tango-cancion from 1917 to 1955, in which melancholia, malcontent, and disillusionment becomes its archetype. These two early phases will be analysed through the lenses of ancient and modern cynicism respectively. This was also the period in which the co-option of tango began, a process that tamed it into a socially acceptable style of dance for the dominant elites in Argentina, Europe, and America.
In its conceptual underpinning, this study will take into consideration cynicism as a trans-historical idea that has seen multiple transformations. In doing so, it draws upon the works of Mazella (2007), Stanley (2007; 2012), Shea (2010) and Allen (2020) in particular, so as to draw out and reflect upon some of the divergent characteristics of cynicism in both in its ancient and modern iterations. This thesis argues that as a complex phenomenon cynicism exerts an influence in contemporary culture which extends far beyond the negative apathetic impact that is usually associated with. The analysis of Argentine tango offered in this thesis presents an exemplary case of such intricacy.