Dolor colectivo, funerales públicos : Ritos funerarios y política de Estado en las exequias de Eva Duarte de Perón a través de la prensa escrita

El presente trabajo se asoma al comportamiento social y estatal ante la desapación física de Eva Duarte de Perón, primer icono del peronismo. Para desentramar el accionar del gobierno y la sociedad, decidimos recurrir -como fuente primaria para la presente investigación- a los periódicos de mayor circulación, intentando observar el día a día que, en la dinámica política de la Argentina de 1952, es simultáneamente una continuidad pero también una mutación en el desarrollo del peronismo, movimiento al cual los acontecimientos del invierno de ese año, marcarán de maneta profunda, fuertemente teñidos por los efectos del duelo. Partiendo de ver al duelo como la reacción frente a la pérdida de una persona amada o de un ideal; el fallecimiento de Evita conjuga, en el imaginario del partido del gobierno, todas estas características asociadas. Y si bien es esperable trastocar las conductas normales de la vida cotidiana, los funerales y ritos toman dimensiones extraordinarias tanto por la multitud de personas involucradas, como por la organización que, del duelo nacional, se hace desde el Estado. Tal organización conlleva a la implementación de una política estatal que se impondrá a todos los aspectos de la vida dentro del Estado peronista. The present essay looks onto the social and state behavior at the physical disappearance of Eva Duarte de Peron, first icon of Peronism. To untangle the actions both of government and society, we decided to turn to the newspapers of major circulation in those days -as primary resource to this investigation-, trying to observe what happened day after day in the politics’ dynamic of Argentina in 1952 which is, at the sometime, a continuity and also a mutation in the development of Peronism. A movement which the events of that year’s winter marked deeply, dying it with the effects of the mourning. We started seeing the mourning as the reaction against the loss of a beloved person or of an ideal. The death of Evita conjugated in the image of the government party all these associated characteristics. And although the normal behavior of every day life is likely to be changed by these rites, the funeral took extraordinary dimensions The present essay looks onto the social and state behavior at the physical disappearance of Eva Duarte de Peron, first icon of Peronism. To untangle the actions both of government and society, we decided to turn to the newspapers of major circulation in those days -as primary resource to this investigation-, trying to observe what happened day after day in the politics’ dynamic of Argentina in 1952 which is, at the sometime, a continuity and also a mutation in the development of Peronism. A movement which the events of that year’s winter marked deeply, dying it with the effects of the mourning. We started seeing the mourning as the reaction against the loss of a beloved person or of an ideal. The death of Evita conjugated in the image of the government party all these associated characteristics. And although the normal behavior of every day life is likely to be changed by these rites, the funeral took extraordinary dimensions. Instituto de Historia Argentina Dr. Ricardo Levene