The diffusion of physical culture in the Argentine ether. The 1947 radio auditions

Abstract

Mass society had in the radio one of its most prominent instruments in terms of the possibility of democratizing content and knowledge. As part of a planetary phenomenon, the 1930s saw the beginning of a slow and determined state intervention in the radio’s use that would culminate between 1946 and 1955. It was during this period, in which Argentina was governed by Juan Domingo Perón, that an unprecedented growth took place in the number of radio stations and the technological devices that reached the majority of homes, introducing themselves into people’s daily lives. Physical culture occupied a prominent space within radio broadcasts. This was due to the fact that it was an inseparable part of the formation of the national spirit, an issue that unified countries of dissimilar ideology, especially after the Second World War. In the Argentine case, its diffusion was designed by the novel Peronist government as a social practice that was within reach of the entire population. From Peron’s perspective, its promotion would bring about a significant social and cultural improvement, allowing Argentina to become part of the group of developed countries. More specifically, this research will focus on the relationship between the public cultural policies of the state and the diffusion of physical culture in broad segments of the population through little-explored sources of the period such as radio broadcasts linked to the diffusion of sports in the year 1947.