“(Des)Memoria, biopolítica y relaciones de poder a propósito de La nona de Roberto Cossa

Abstract

The present article is an analysis of La nona by Roberto Cossa, one of the most remarkable masterpieces in contemporary Argentinean theatre. The approach of this article puts into practice concepts used by Giorgio Agamben like biopolitics, homini sacri, and nuda vida. Walter Benjamin’s considerations on the end of experience and Hannah Arendt’s reflections on language, violence, and memory will be also used to offer an alternative interpretation for this play. Taking into account the deluge of symbolic interpretations given by critics about nona`s meaning as dictatorship, capitalism, and many others, we will stress instead the family’s role: their power relationships and their failure when taking decisions as the main reason for the final tragedy and extermination. Therefore we try to show the complex and unstable line between the play’s characters as victims and attackers and, as a result, the links between biopolitics and citizens, as embodied by the Spadone family.