Imagining Argentina

Imagining Argentina (1987) is a fantasy novel by American author Lawrence Thornton. Set against the backdrop of Argentina’s Dirty War, Imagining Argentina centers Carlos Rueda, a Buenos Aires native whose supernatural abilities grant him insight into the fates of Argentina’s disappeared. The novel’s complicated consideration of power, memory, and authoritarianism has been critically acclaimed, earning a nomination for the PEN/Faulkner Award in Fiction. Thornton would later expand the story into two succeeding novels, Naming the Spirits and Tales from the Blue Archives, forming his Argentina Trilogy.

This guide uses the 1991 Bantam reissue edition of the text. 

Content Warning: The novel deals with themes of political and sexual violence, including rape, torture, and disappearance. Mentions of Nazism, the Holocaust, and other historical examples of genocide appear frequently.

Plot Summary

The novel’s first-person omniscient narrator is Martín, an aging journalist who lives and works in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Throughout the novel, Martín describes his experience during Argentina’s seven-year military junta—often referred to as the “Dirty War”—and his intimate friendship with Carlos and Cecilia Rueda. Martín first meets Cecilia at La Opinión, a satirical French journal where Cecilia contributes stories. They quickly strike up a friendship, and Cecilia introduces Martín to her husband, Carlos.