front cover of Eva Perón
Eva Perón
The Myths of a Woman
Julie Taylor
University of Chicago Press, 1979
Eva Perón, one of the most powerful women in the world at the time of her death in 1952, rose from humble origins to international renown as First Lady of Argentina and the force behind the throne of her husband Juan Perón. Despite her immense popularity, she was inaccessible to the people of Argentina, and so images were constructed around her to fill that void. According to Julie M. Taylor, these "myths" around Eva Perón reflect Argentine culture and political history at the time of her seven-year reign. With a brief biography of Eva Perón serving as a backdrop, Taylor offers a detailed analysis of the principle myths that grew around this enigmatic woman.

"Taylor shows that she is remembered by different classes and political factions as saint, a revolutionary, or a whore, depending on whether she was interpreted as an embodiment or as a violation of the Argentine feminine ideal."—Booklist

"Highly commendable . . . it deliberately eschews the sensationalism that characterizes earlier [biographies]. . . . Taylor instead concentrates on the myths that have lingered since her death. . . . [This book] transcends biography."—Gentlemen's Quarterly

"[A] concise and brilliant examination of the legends that arose in Argentina during the lifetime . . . of a woman who broke with Argentine tradition and became a political figure in her own right."—New Yorker
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front cover of Paper Tangos
Paper Tangos
Julie Taylor
Duke University Press, 1998
Tango. A multidimensional expression of Argentine identity, one that speaks to that nation’s sense of disorientation, loss, and terror. Yet the tango mesmerizes dancers and audiences alike throughout the world. In Paper Tangos, Julie Taylor—a classically trained dancer and anthropologist—examines the poetics of the tango while describing her own quest to dance this most dramatic of paired dances.
Taylor, born in the United States, has lived much of her adult life in Latin America. She has spent years studying the tango in Buenos Aires, dancing during and after the terror of military dictatorships. This book is at once an account of a life lived crossing the borders of two distinct and complex cultures and an exploration of the conflicting meanings of tango for women who love the poetry of its movement yet feel uneasy with the roles it bestows on the male and female dancers. Drawing parallels among the violences of the Argentine Junta, the play with power inherent in tango dancing, and her own experiences with violence both inside and outside the intriguing tango culture, Taylor weaves the line between engaging memoir and insightful cultural critique. Within the contexts of tango’s creative birth and contemporary presentations, this book welcomes us directly into the tango subculture and reveals the ways that personal, political, and historical violence operate in our lives.
The book’s experimental design includes photographs on every page, which form a flip-book sequence of a tango. Not simply a book for tango dancers and fans, Paper Tangos will reward students of Latin American studies, cultural studies, anthropology, feminist studies, dance studies, and the art of critical memoir.


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