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. Martín also establishes a warm relationship with their teenaged daughter, Teresa. 

To better consolidate its power, the junta often disappears left-leaning dissidents and their families. Cecilia, defiant, publishes an exposé in La Opinión about the junta’s policy of disappearance. On the day of the exposé’s publication, Cecilia is forcibly abducted from her home and stuffed into a waiting Ford Falcon. Returning home, Carlos and Teresa grieve when they discover Cecilia’s absence.

Eventually, Carlos returns to his position as director at the local Children’s Theater. One day, Carlos learns that his star actor, Enrico, is similarly coping with his father’s disappearance. As Carlos joins Enrico for a moment alone, he’s suddenly struck with a vision, depicting Enrico’s father from the moment of his abduction to his return home. At first, Carlos dismisses the vision as fantasy, until Enrico arrives the next day to tell Carlos it has come true. When Carlos tells Martín about his epiphany, Martín tends toward cynicism but nevertheless respects Carlos’s earnestness. 

Ultimately, Carlos decides to use his gift to help his community. One Thursday, he joins a group of similarly-affected mothers as they protest on the Plaza de Mayo, right across from the Casa Rosada, or the presidential residence. Later that night, he hosts a group of the mothers in his garden, where he imagines the fates of their lost loved ones. Once the group has disbanded, Carlos attempts to trace Cecilia’s steps, following a bird through Buenos Aires’ La Boca neighborhood. Unsuccessful, Carlos returns home. That night, he dreams about Cecilia, picturing an old woman greeting him expectantly. 

Each Thursday, Carlos marches on the Plaza and hosts his garden sessions. One day, his colleague from the theater, Silvio, attends. Though Silvio is briefly moved by Carlos’s gift, he’s too skeptical to accept its power.

One day, Carlos decides to travel south to the Argentine pampas, a network of vast, remote grasslands. There, he meets Amos and Sara Sternberg, elderly Holocaust survivors who now manage a homestead called “Esperanza.” When Carlos explains his search for Cecilia, the Sternbergs encourage him to trust in his gift.

Back in Buenos Aires, Carlos joins the mothers for another protest. Together with newcomer Gustavo Santos, the group marches toward the Church of the Holy Cross. However, a group of militants suddenly disrupts their congregation, forcibly arresting some of the women. Later that night, Carlos realizes that Gustavo—a government spy—has betrayed them. Inviting Gustavo to a garden session, Carlos carefully exposes his ruse.

Newly emboldened, Carlos seeks an audience with General Guzman, a major architect of the mass disappearances. When Carlos demands news of Cecilia’s whereabouts, Guzman demurs, claiming that there’s no record of her arrest. 

Disgusted by Guzman’s deceit, Carlos begins work on The Names, an ambitious play in which the actors defiantly recite the names of the disappeared. On opening night, the house is packed, and several government agents lurk amongst the crowd. After the play’s end, the men confront Carlos in his home, violently subduing him while they abduct Teresa. As he recovers from his injuries, Carlos dreams of Cecilia and Teresa trapped in the walls of an ice cave.

One day, filled with rage, Carlos grabs an old rifle and tails Guzman as the latter drives home after work. Positioned at a safe distance, Carlos trains the rifle’s sight on Guzman’s head. However, when Guzman’s daughter emerges to greet her father, Carlos can’t pull the trigger. 

At another Thursday garden session, Carlos learns from Esme, his colleague, that their friend and coworker Silvio has disappeared. Using his gift, Carlos realizes that Silvio will soon be killed. Furthermore, following the premiere of The Names, the government has indefinitely shuttered the Children’s Theater. Eager to fill his time, Carlos accepts a job at a local cafe, hoping to play guitar for the dinner crowd. Returning home after his shift, Carlos notices a shoe nailed to the front of a house—exactly like he’d seen in a prior vision. Knocking at the door, Carlos meets an old woman, who remembers details from the night of Cecilia’s disappearance.

Back in his garden, Carlos hopes to imagine Teresa’s fate. However, as his vision turns white, he realizes that she’s been killed. Eager to distract himself from his grief, Carlos escapes to the seaside. There, swimming in the deep ocean, Carlos feels compelled to sink to the bottom. However, he resists, recognizing that the regime is eager for his submission. Confronted, too, with the ice cave dream, Carlos willfully destroys it. 

Again in Buenos Aires, Carlos imagines Cecilia and Teresa. In his vision, Cecilia and Teresa endure repeated sexual violence. Briefly, they are housed together, until Teresa is led away to her death. Alone again, Cecilia works to remember everything about her detainment, so that she might write it down later. Eventually, after seducing and killing a guard, Cecilia escapes into the pampas, where she finds refuge with the Souza family. 

Meanwhile, the junta begins to unravel. More and more of the disappeared return to their families, and Carlos realizes firsthand that his visions were faithful. However, as human rights advocates arrive in Buenos Aires, many Argentinians worry that the generals will quickly cover up their atrocities. 

When the Children’s Theater is reopened, Carlos quits the cafe and returns to write a new play. He offers his final garden session, realizing the necessity of change. At times, Carlos is tempted to search for Cecilia in the pampas, but ultimately accepts that he must simply await her return.

One afternoon, as Carlos navigates the Carnival parade, he notices a truck bearing the name “Souza.” After approaching its owner, Carlos hears Cecilia call out behind him, and the two are reunited. Not long after, Cecilia calls Martín to happily apprise him of her return. 

Later, Cecilia, Carlos, and Martín attend the generals’ public trial. After the generals’ sentencing, prosecutor Julio Strassera encourages the audience to chant “Nunca mas!” (“Never again!”), to demonstrate their commitment to a free, democratic state. Cecilia, Carlos, and Martín all take up the chant.

After the dust settles, Cecilia returns to La Opinión, while Carlos continues work on a new play, based on his experience at the Carnival. As the novel closes, Martín reviews a rough draft, gazing out the window at a child playing on a swing set.