IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH IDENTIDADES 5 ENGLISH | Page 130

imposed by Afro-Argentines themselves, when facing a majority society,
a strategy for defending their traditions
(Cirio 2009a).

regions of the nation’s identity. Thus, it
becomes irrelevant when considering
the importance of Afro-Argentineanness.

Each one of these silences demands an
examination that goes beyond the pretensions of this article. This explains the
“Notes” in my title, which is further
complicated by this group’s precarious
situation vis-à-vis art (music included),
which makes it hard to generalize. I will
focus on two dimensions of social silence and its use: its violent charge and
its protective ability.

Another social use of silence, selfimposed silence, implies a need to separate one’s self from publicly exposition;
it was quite pronounced among AfroPorteños, who have an intra-community
pact of silence, although it has been
waning recently. Their elders created
this pact, in in the late nineteenth century. The epigraph at this article’s beginning hints in that direction, as does the
popular, Afro-Porteño, “See, Hear, and
Be Silent.”

Of all the kinds of violence that exists
among individuals, symbolic violence
seems to be the least known, despite the
fact it is the most toxic and complex
kind to deconstruct. When the subtle
game of (self) imposed silence comes
into play, all signifiers are suspended,
and all social ties are broken, according
to Halbwachs.
Thus, when wisdom ceases being communicated, the social frameworks of
memory that allows one to organize
memories are deconstructed, and they
are lost to oblivion. When the silence is
imposed by the State-nation, the violence becomes complex due to its
asymmetrical relationship with AfroArgentines. Its deliberate absence from
censuses, maps, and museum was the
tip of the iceberg in the plan to erase a
compromising past and an undervalued
present that is unwanted. Even if worship of Saint Balthazar is public, and
one of the popular religious one on the
coast, its musical practices are followed
a few days a year. The local establishment considers it something done by
“poor, low class people.” Even the coast
is neglected when compared to other

They tell of the tensions they endured
behind closed doors, not only regarding
to what they could aspire, but also a
desire for that knowledge not to be acquired by the children, which is much
more suggestive. The reason why is
because it would be inoperative and
even counterproductive in a country
whose promotion system was based on
whiteness. “One Does Not Speak of
That” is another way of expressing this
that I documented among AfroArgentines from Santa Fe.
At first glance, it seemed as though the
self-imposed silence ended up jiving
with the establishment-imposed silence.
Yet, a study starting with the present
allows one to understand that it was not
profitable: some ancestral institutions,
like music, managed to be saved and,
from a few years ago till now, when
national (inter)contextual circumstances
began to be favorable, positive policies
regarding making them visible were
created and enacted, with State support
and interest, and a search for acknowledgment at the level of society.

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