Vox politica: acousmatic voices in Argentinean science fiction cinema

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of acousmatic characters in three contemporary science fiction (SF) films from Argentina: La Antena; La Sonámbula; and Adiós Querida Luna. Drawing on the work of Michel Chion, who has introduced the concept of acousmêtre to define a voice-character that can be heard but not seen on-screen (and for this reason is invested with power and authority), I will analyse the ways in which such a figure functions within the narrative of the selected case studies. This paper will seek to demonstrate that in Argentinean SF films the acousmêtre, rather than being simply invested with authority, is also a subversive signifier that threatens dominant powers. Because these films present dystopian scenarios that involve totalitarian or corrupt governments, I will claim that the acousmatic voices can also be interpreted as an allusion to the desaparecidos (disappeared), the thousands of victims of State violence in Argentina under the military dictatorship of 1976–83 (an instance of political trauma that clearly informs the stories of the three films discussed). The disappeared and the acousmatic figures share a similar ontological status, centred on the tension between presence and absence, and both constitute a political symbol against oppression and violence.