Todo sobre el asado: the culture of meat in the argentine national identity

Abstract

The intention of this article is to analyze the documentary Todo sobre el asado by argentine directors Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat, from 2016, which deals with the theme of the argentine barbecue (asado) tradition. This tradition, established over the 19th and 20th centuries, is called into question in the documentary that seeks to denaturalize eating habits linked to a supposed national character. In methodological terms, some possibilities will be highlighted for thinking about streaming cultural products as a historical source, especially in the aspects related to their production and circulation logic. We will also seek to demonstrate aspects of the historical path that transformed cattle meat into a symbol of argentine national identity, showing how Todo sobre el asado can, at the same time, be a regional identity document and a self-conscious game of globalized food policy. Finally, we will analyze aspects of this identity construction around meat culture and the political importance of this debate in contemporary times, based on the analysis of some documentary sequences that deal with the subjectivities related to this identity construction.