Flesh and Blood in the Globalized Age: Pablo Trapero’s Nacido y criado and Carancho

This chapter explores the representation of physical and psychological trauma in Pablo Trapero’s Nacido y criado (Born and Bred) (2006) and Carancho (The Vulture) (2010) in order to identify ways in which, in the globalized age, trauma is perpetuated in cycles of violence and re-traumatization, in both the public and private spheres, and how this process might be counteracted. Whilst traffic accidents provide the pivotal, shocking events from which both films’ traumatic trajectories evolve, the films differ significantly in their respective treatment of the subject matter, as well as in their aesthetics. Nacido y criado provides a stark portrait of psychological shock, with its characteristic fragmentation and aporia, within the intimate family sphere. In Carancho, the focus shifts from the private to the public arena, as trauma is placed within the dual loci of flesh and marketplace. Here, the moral and ethical tensions between public and private space are thrown into relief, thereby giving rise to questions surrounding the exploitation of personal (bodily) shock and trauma, in the precarious socio-economic context of a globalized society. This comparative reading of Nacido y criado and Carancho employs a structural approach to trauma, in order to demonstrate the ways in which the fundamental structure shared by psychological trauma, violence and physical pain, and exacerbated by increasing globalization, allows trauma to proliferate in ever-shifting manifestations. Finally, the chapter proposes a biopolitical perspective in order to identify the possibilities suggested by these two films for replacing the endless recycling of trauma with a more favourable process of containment.