Ethnic nicknaming: ‘negro’ as a term of endearment and vicarious blackness in Argentina

Abstract

In Argentine colloquial language, calling someone ‘negro/a’ may have two opposite connotations. It can be derogatory and racist, but in other contexts, it can be used as a term of endearment. It is also customary to nickname someone ‘el negro/la negra [+ name]’, with no offense intended or taken. These usages are unrelated to actual skin colors; both white and dark skinned people may be affectionately called ‘negro’. This article analyses the origins and meanings of such a habit, by relating it to other forms of vicarious blackness and to the specificities of the vernacular racial formations. In turn, the malleability and instability of the negro allusion is explained as a sign of the country’s disjointed process of ethnogenesis. The last section explores possible implications of the Argentine case for debates on hybridity, nation formation and mixed race studies.