Nick Shannon

Place Inquiry 4
The Tango Singer

The Tango Singer, by Toms Eloy Martnez, is a story centered around the narrator,
Bruno Cadogan, who is a New York student that travels to Buenos Aires in 2001 to track down
Julio Martel, an elusive tango singer in hope to gain inspiration for his thesis of Borgess ideas
about the origin of the tango. Martel performs free, unannounced concerts in random venues
around the city, and Bruno starts to uncover the story of his life in an effort to get access to one
of his performances, which never does happen. This obsession is coupled with the urge to
discover Borgess imaginary Aleph from his short story The Aleph, which is a point in space that
contains all points, the story of the universe in a single place. This gives him a unique
perspective on the city and a desire to discover more of its secrets.
Brunos pursuit of Martels mysterious voice emerges him in Argentinas complex
history. While trying to decipher why he sings at these venues, Bruno connects to the history of
the city and its everyday life. Every space Martel sings at has a connection to a place of historic
significance or political corruption. Toward the end of the novel, the 2001 economic crisis of
Buenos Aires strikes and its feeble government conditions create an unstable setting. This story
is a captivating story of the quest to find a tango singer, which exposes Buenos Aires dark past
and troubled present. The physical descriptions of the city describe its majestic, confusing and
enticing qualities.
Buenos Aires is a city with a tumultuous past and dynamic future. The description of the
city through the eyes of The Tango Singers protagonist, Cadagon, is viewed as a labyrinth of

time, space and people. This theme carries throughout the book, validating the fact that it is not a
straightforward city and you have to dig deep to fully understand its qualities.
The city of Buenos Aires is seen through the eyes of Cadagon, who uncovers its past
while attempting to locate the infamous tango singer Martel. The street grid is often portrayed as
confusing; a labyrinth of names that is easy to get lost in. However, it is not seen as a bad thing
in the beginning, just a way to appreciate the city in a new light. The negative space of the streets
are important and the shape of the labyrinth is not in the lines that form it but in the spaces
between those lines. The names of the streets change and no map is fully accurate, which makes
it hard to get your bearings or find your way. The social life of the streets is captivating all hours
of the day, and not seen as dismal, but happy and friendly. According to Cadagon, Despite El
Tucumanos insistence that the city was in runs and that I should have seen it a year ago, when
its beauty was still intact and there werent so many beggars on the streets, I only saw happy
people. (p.12).
In the search of the Aleph, Cadagon follows the descriptions of writers like Borges, but
finds that the streets were more confusing than how they were described, and were found not
even remotely resembling their description in the text. Many of the streets changed names and
their layout was hard to navigate, but the lure of finding the point in space that contains all points
leads the reader through the city and its residents. As said by Cadagon, Even though the city
was a flat grid, I couldnt manage to get my bearings, due to the monotony of the buildings.
Nothing is more difficult than noticing the subtle changes in something unchanging, like in a
desert or on the sea. Confusion sometimes paralyzed me on any given street corner and, when I
emerged from the shock, it was to circle round in search of a caf (p. 130). This quality of the

city is not fully appreciated at first, but comes to define how Cadagon views Martel and Buenos
Aires as a whole.
The difficulty of navigating the streets is coupled with the complicated past of Buenos
Aires and its political turmoil and opposition. Towards the end of the book, the economic crisis
of 2001 struck and the city became unstable as short term governments were cycled through,
then thrown out. Streets were lined with demonstrators, beggars and machine-gunned workers,
creating an environment where people did not venture out in the streets voluntarily for fear of
being questioned. The search for Martel intertwined the past of the city into Cadagons present
day life. He finally came to realize that Martel didnt sing at places haphazardly, but chose them
carefully as a way to pay homage to the dead that were victims of political corruption or
senseless acts of violence.
Among the places Martel sang at were the Athletics Club, a place of torture under the
military dictatorship, Pasteur Street, where a terrorist bomb killed 85 people in 1994, opposite a
factory where workers on strike were gunned down during the Tragic Week of 1919, and in the
palace of Waterworks where the body of a murdered 14-year old girl was found in 1899. These
public spaces show the connotation people have to the city through memory and the labyrinth of
time they live in. The Tango Singer portrayed these events as a labyrinth that Cadagon and
Martel were stuck in, trying to make sense of the dreadful acts.
The tumultuous past also carries into the built form of the city, creating space that is
bound with memory, destruction, rebellion, and present day life. While walking on the streets,
the author describes them as majestic from the second and third story up, but dilapidated at street
level. This creates the illusion almost as if the splendor of the past was suspended in the air and
the streets were holding onto the despair of the present.

The labyrinth of the city in space and time changes its people. The complicated layout
and past is coupled with its residents, who are described as distant yet close. The people in the
city are shown as constantly changing their mood, seriousness and language. However, they do
read all the time and are intelligent. Even the taxi drivers strike up conversations to prove they
are above their job.
Cadagons description of life in Buenos Aires is striking. Reality is viewed as being
intense. There are cafes all over the streets and they are full of people, even late into the night.
And the atmosphere is different than in other cities; they are hospitable and dont kick you out if
you are done eating. People tend to linger and take their time in an effort to connect with each
other. Cadagon found these cafes the perfect place to write his thesis because of their late hours
and friendliness. He described reality as being so intense you could feel it burning up your skin.
This presents a unique view of the city and how one might experience it. The people may not be
as straightforward but they are real and you can feel their energy.
Buenos Aires was presented as dynamic, troubled, yet friendly city that represents the
country and its people in a complex manner. The labyrinth of the streets and the city form are
coupled with its complex past to create an interesting vibrancy that melds together its past and
present influences. It is easy to immerse yourself in the city and slow down to appreciate its
beauty, but also get dragged into the past. Cadagon discovered the city through the life of Martel
and his stories, and I am excited to find my own way around it to discover the true experience for
myself.