"Miedo a ese fierrito": Imperio Argentina y su experiencia radiofónica en la Argentina de Perón

Abstract

Imperio Argentina achieved international success in folkloric musicals directed by her then husband Florián Rey. After their separation, she worked in Argentina in several Argentine-Spanish co-productions which were a continuation of her folkloric roles and reaffirmed her inability to evolve in the medium. She then began her radio performances in Argentina between 1947 and 1954, in which she interpreted classic songs from her folkloric films and successful Spanish-American numbers. This interest in radio was interspersed with concert tours, recordings and appearances in film, TV and radio-related magazines that fed back into the star’s career. In this article I analyse the figure of Imperio Argentina as a transnational transmedia artist and the key role of her new radio facet as a commercial strategy in this process of identity articulation between Argentina and Spain in the 1940s.