The political uses of theater. scientific and medical sociability in the city of Buenos Aires at the end of the century (1870-1920)

Abstract

Three scientific ceremonies organized in different theaters of the city of Buenos Aires by the Argentine Medical Circle (CMA) are studied. As part of practices of sociability of this institution, these ceremonies dedicated to commemorate episodes and central individuals in the medical community in the second half of the nineteenth century were one of the resources used by the CMA for the transmission of meanings, values and representations about the local medical practice civil society and political power. This amplification strategy of symbolic and cultural aspects of professional and scientific practice of medicine was used by the CMA both to build larger audiences, gain visibility and claim legitimacy for all medical practices, such as to open a gap in access to political recognition in a city with a tendency to look like strangers to doctors and hospitals until well into the twentieth century. In particular, the three case studies to illustrate the close relationship between the theatrical ceremonies and the circulation of a pilot program for medical sciences in Buenos Aires city.