The representation of the military dictatorship in Argentina (1976-1983) as masculine power in the works of Luisa Valenzuela

This thesis aims to analyse the military dictatorship in Argentina between 1976-1983 as a political regime that identified its power with phallocentric values within the framework of a power-based gender approach. The gendering of concepts such as fatherland, nation and family during the military dictatorship paved the way for the legitimisation of sexual violence against women and oppressive discourses through these concepts. In this context, the power over the female body emerges as an extension of the political power that identifies itself with masculinity. In this regard, this study intends to examine the literary reflection of the military regime in Argentina as a masculine power in the four short stories of Argentine writer Luisa Valenzuela, "La Palabra Asesino" (The Word "Killer"), "Cambio de Armas" (The Change of Weapons), "La Llave", (The Key), "Simetrías" (Symmetries) together with the novels Cola de Lagartija (The Lizard Tail) and El Mañana (Tomarrow). Through the evaluation of these texts within the framework of Feminist Literary Theory, it is aimed to illustrate that how political meanings attributed to the body by the military regime intertwine with gender-related conceptions.