Zamba and the Industrial Revolution. Kirchnerist Propaganda for Explaining Economy to Argentinian Kids

Abstract

This research work analyzes a chapter of children television titled “La asombrosa excursión de Zamba a la Revolución Industrial” (Zamba’s fantastic trip to the industrial revolution), program broadcasted in 2014 in Argentina. Is an audiovisual production based on the renowned comic series La asombrosa excursión de Zamba (Zamba’s fantastic trip). This public television program was created in 2010 by the producer house El perro y la luna (The moon and the dog), in the plenary Peronist-kirchnerist period and was popular until the first year in office of the conservative president Mauricio Macri. Through a quantitative analysis of this material, the study identifies how this product presents to Argentinian kids the differences between the socialist and the capitalist economic systems through animated creations of Adam Smith and Karl Marx. This program is based upon the valency of the speeches performed by these historical characters, the consequences of their actions and the contexts and environments in which they are represented by the audiovisual product. Thus, this program represents a historical and ideologically managed narrative that identifies the animated thread with the political project of the Peronist government that ruled Argentina in the years 2003 to 2015. As a min conclusion, the study could determine that the format of the program denotes an evident propaganda bias that influences in the appropriation of a historical version and an economic model, given that it takes place in a public media and is directed towards children audience.