Operación Masacre

Operación Masacre
Author(s)	Rodolfo Walsh
Country	Argentina
Language	Spanish
Genre(s)	Nonfiction/Literature
Publisher	De Le Flor
Publication date	1957
Media type	Print
Pages	236 pp (Paperback edition)
ISBN	ISBN 978-9505153527 (Paperback edition)
OCLC Number	11558530

Operación Masacre ("Operation Massacre") is a nonfiction novel of investigative journalism, written by noted Argentine journalist and author Rodolfo Walsh. It is considered by some to be the first of its genre. It was published in 1957, nine years before the publication of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, a book often credited as the first major nonfiction novel of investigative journalism.^[1]

Synopsis

The novel details the Jose León Suárez massacre, which involved the 1956 capture and shooting of Peronist militants, including rebel leader Juan José Valle. These events followed a 1955 military coup, known as the Revolución Libertadora, which deposed Argentine president Juan Perón and eventually brought the hard-line general Pedro Eugenio Aramburu to power.

History

Walsh received a tip-off about the secret operation in December 1956, while he was playing chess in a café.^[2] Operación Masacre was originally published in May–July 1957 as a series of articles in the journal Mayoría, where it was subtitled "A book without publisher" as an indication of the problems Walsh had had securing an outlet for his story.^[3] These articles were later re-written into the novel form that became the book Operación Masacre.

Reception and criticism

Literary critic Ángel Rama described Operación Masacre as a "police novel for the poor."^[4] The novel explores themes of violence that are not only unexpected, but are also unpunished,^[5] although Pedro Eugenio Aramburu would ultimately be executed in 1970 by the Peronist Montoneros for his role in the José León Suárez massacre.

Daniel Link argues that the book "destabilizes literary genres" and anticipates what would later be called testimonial fiction.^[6] This form of writing has proven to be problematic to some literary analysts because some have seen the need to match the documented historical narrative with the events in the literary text itself, leading to challenges of verification for those seeking proof of historical accuracy and reliability.^[7]

Film adaptation

Film poster for Operación Masacre

Operación Masacre was adapted into a 1973 film by director and writer Jorge Cedrón, starring Norma Aleandro, Carlos Carella, Víctor Laplace, Ana María Picchio and Julio Troxler.^[8]

Notes

1. ^ Waisbord, p. 30
2. ^ McCaughan, p. 80
3. ^ McCaughan, p. 88
4. ^ Rama, p. ???
5. ^ Bollig, p. 88
6. ^ Link, p. 220
7. ^ Foster, p. ??
8. ^ Operación Masacre at the Internet Movie Database

References

• Bollig, Ben (April, 2006). "Violence without Reason: On Argentine Short Stories". Journal of Iberian & Latin American Studies (Taylor & Francis) 12 (1): 79–90. doi:10.1080/14701840600704565. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=21782076&site=ehost-live. Retrieved 2008-05-23.  (EBSCO subscription required for online access.)
• Foster, David William (January, 1984). "Latin American Documentary Narrative". PMLA (PMLA, Vol. 99, No. 1) 99 (1): 41–55. doi:10.2307/462034. JSTOR 462034.  (JSTOR subscription required for online access.)
• Link, Daniel (2007). "Rethinking Past Present". Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas (Routledge) 40 (2): 218–230. doi:10.1080/08905760701627711. 
• McCaughan, Michael (2002). True Crimes: Rodolfo Walsh, the Life and Times of a Radical Intellectual. London: Latin American Bureau. ISBN 1899365435. 
• Rama, Angel (1983). Literatura y clase social. Mexico City: Folios Ediciones. ISBN 9684780354. 
• Waisbord, Silvio (2000). Watchdog Journalism in South America: News, Accountability, and Democracy. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231119755. http://books.google.com/?id=2QysUwD0UNAC.