FORMS OF EMERGENCE OF TRANS* FEMININITIES IN TWO ARCHIVES OF THE ARGENTINE NATIONAL STATE

Analysis of cases, interruptions, and continuities

Abstract

In this paper, I aim to characterize the forms of representation imposed by the National State as a Modern Colonial State. The objective is to illuminate elements of the matrix of intelligibility that persisted for trans* individuals from the late 19th to the late 20th century. My interest lies in contributing to the narratives of Human Rights Organizations and theories that explore the interdependence of oppressive patriarchal-capitalist and racial structures. This research focuses on two primary documentary collections preserved by legal, medical, and administrative power structures, which provide methodological boundaries. Specifically, I investigate the emergence of trans* femininities in two archives: the Archivos de psiquiatría y criminología aplicada a las ciencias afines. Medicina legal-sociología-derecho-psicología-pedagogía (1902-1913), and the Archive of the Intelligence Directorate of the Police of the Province of Buenos Aires (DIPBA, active 1956-1998). I highlight the appearance of "inverted sexual" in the former and the case of Mariela Muñoz in the latter, tracing continuities and discontinuities in their representation. Special attention is paid to omissions, and misrepresentations - both nominal and territorial - of the emergence of such subjects.