Lunfardoin Tango

Abstract

Tango has demonstrated a singular originality and vitality during its many decades of existence.It presents us with a wide range of perspectives in both its musical and choreographic aspects, and we should not fail to take into account its very rich history as a poetics and a literary history as well.Even before the emergence of that period of tango history known as tango canción, initiated in 1917 with the appearance of "Mi noche triste" (Gobello, Letras de tango, 24),1 tango lyrics had already begun to make use of lunfardo, the distinct vocabulary of the popular classes of the Río de la Plata region, to achieve an enhanced level of expressivity.2Thanks to the particularly strong bond between lunfardo and tango lyrics, especially in the 1920s and 1930s, the popularity of the form increased, and tango music and dance were ultimately complemented by a new element: poetry.3This was by no means the only use of lunfardo in a literary context: it has also been used in comic sketches, in the grotesque and other forms of popular theater,4 in costumbrista journalism that focused on local and regional customs, in comic strips, in rock lyrics, and even in the works of some of Argentina's most canonical authors, such as Leopoldo Marechal, Ernesto Sábato, Julio Cortázar, and Manuel Puig.Nonetheless, the connection between tango and lunfardo remains readily apparent today due to the role of the former in disseminating the latter, the latter being initially circumscribed to the lower classes.The aim of this chapter is first to show how lunfardo has occupied a privileged space in tango, even if a few of its principal lyricists (such as Homero

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