Revisiting the Appropriated Children: Subjectivity in Patricia Zangaro’s A propósito de la duda

Abstract

A propósito de la duda (2000) was created in homage to Las Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo in the hopes of “instilling doubt” regarding the issue of the appropriated children of the disappeared, those who were taken during Argentina’s last military dictatorship (1976-1983) and placed illegally with other families. This article studies how a persistent dualistic cultural interpretation of the dictatorship, the “Theory of the Two Evils,” and a body of psychological and legal discourses building on advancements in genetic science and long-standing notions of family lineage informed the play’s creation and mise-en-scène. In the play, the appropriated children are represented in terms of their true, biological identities, which must be restituted legally and legitimately for Argentine society to move forward.