Meeting of the Study Group on Art, Culture and Politics in Recent Argentina (IIGG)

Fascism Cosplay / Listen Up: A Conversation with Luis Ignacio García and Gabriel Giorgi

Comment: Cynthia Edul and Ana Longoni

Summary:

How can we understand the dizzying and fractured present when truth, language, and listening are all in question? In light of the recent publication of *Fascismo cosplay* (Caja Negra, 2026) and *Parar la oreja* (Tenemos las máquinas, 2025), two books that heed the surrounding signals and dare to name the nebulous and shake off the stupor, their authors, Luis Ignacio García and Gabriel Giorgi, will discuss new forms of authoritarianism, the numbing effect of social media, and the abrupt transformations of the public sphere. Starting from the bewilderment sparked by the rise of the new right and figures like Javier Milei, Donald Trump, and Jair Bolsonaro, the conversation will address the mutations of contemporary political discourse, the disputes over common sense, and the possibilities of critical listening as a practice of resistance.

Bios:

Luis Ignacio García (Córdoba, 1978) is a teacher and essayist. With a PhD in philosophy, he is a tenured professor at the National University of Córdoba and a researcher at CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council). He works at the intersection of aesthetics, political theory, and contemporary philosophy, engaging with current debates. He has explored issues in Argentine intellectual history and focused on the cultural tensions of the post-dictatorship era. He has written about art and memory, mourning and the pandemic, and more recently, hate speech and the rise of the far right. He has directed numerous research projects and participated in various publishing and curatorial initiatives. His published works include *Fascism Cosplay: Chronicles of Disarray in the Argentine Laboratory* (2026); *The Hour of the Diamond: Diary of a Mourning* (2023); and *The Community in Assembly: Political Imagination and Post-Dictatorship* (2018), among others. He also edited *The Babel of Hate: Politics of Language on the Front Lines*.

Gabriel Giorgi is a Principal Investigator at the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) of Argentina and a professor at New York University. He works in Latin American literature, art, and film, with a focus on the Southern Cone and Brazil. He currently analyzes the politics and aesthetics of listening within the reconfigurations of the sensible in contemporary arts. He has published “Dreams of Extermination: Homosexuality and Representation in Contemporary Argentine Literature” and “Common Forms: Animality, Biopolitics, Culture”—and, in collaboration with Ana Kiffer, “Political Hatreds, Politics of Hate: Struggles, Gestures, Writings.” His most recent publication is “Letting Our Ears Loose: Notes for a Politics of Listening,” in Tenemos las Máquinas (Buenos Aires, 2025). In addition to NYU, he has been a visiting professor at universities in Argentina, Brazil, and Ecuador. His articles have been published in the United States, Spain, and Latin America.

Cynthia Edul (1979) is a novelist, playwright, professor, theater director, and cultural manager. She holds a degree in Literature from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and a degree in Playwriting from the Municipal School of Dramatic Arts (EMAD). She directs the Master's Program in Cultural Management at the University of San Andrés and the Artists' Program. As a performing arts curator, she co-created Panorama Sur and, in 2022, Paraíso Performing Arts Club. She is the author of the novels *La sucesión*, *La tierra empezaba a arder*, *Último regreso a Siria*, and *La Primera Materia*, and the plays *Miami*, *Familia Bonsái*, *A dónde van los corazones rotos*, *El punto de costura*, and *Estos pequeños libros que quedan*. She has received writing grants from the University of Iowa (USA), Courants du Monde (France), and the Saison Foundation in Tokyo (Japan).

Ana Longoni is a writer, a researcher at CONICET (National Scientific and Technical Research Council), and a professor at the undergraduate and graduate levels at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). She holds a PhD in Arts (UBA) and works on the intersections of art and politics in Latin America. Since its founding in 2007, she has been a driving force behind the Red Conceptualismos del Sur (Southern Conceptualisms Network). She has curated numerous exhibitions, both individually and collaboratively, most recently "Giro Gráfico, como en el muro la hiedra" (Graphic Turn, Like Ivy on the Wall) (2022), "El futuro detrás" (The Future Behind) (2023), and "Alejandra Fenochio. Ahora" (Alejandra Fenochio. Now) (2025). She served as Director of Public Activities at the Reina Sofía Museum from 2018 to 2021.

The meeting will be in a hybrid format (in-person/virtual).