[Anxiety, nostalgia and melancholy. A few remarks on psychoanalysis and tango]

Our work is based on the application of psychoanalytic techniques, in order to unveil this cultural phenomenon called tango, related with sexuality and unconscious processes. As a way of introduction, it deals with a brief theory of the birth of tango, the possible terminological source of its name, its main creators and interpreters, as well as the chronological classification into the first wave tangos, Guardia Vieja, and the newer wave tangos, Guardia Nueva. The former ones were awash with festive themes of the centennial years, expressed in behaviors that denote sexuality and love, whereas the latter ones, expose the great bewilderment of the thirties' crisis, due to the imminent downfall of the country, the denunciation of materialism, the crumbling of ideas; which led up to feelings of utter pessimism, loneliness and abandonment. From this point onwards, through the use of techniques provided by psychoanalysis applied to tango lyrics, we are able to unravel the unconscious processes of the drama of its characters; the immigrant, hopeful and at same time nostalgic for the loss of his mother country; the porteno -urban man from Buenos Aires city- who, overwhelmed by immigrants, has to give way to the new compatriots; the inland inhabitant, who was dragged to the city because of the new conditions of rural work; and finally the conventillo, tenement house, as a melting pot that fulfilled the integration of these groups. Like in a painter's palette, which contains various colors and shades, the interpretations about nostalgia, grief and loneliness become apparent, along with the father-son rivalry, the conflict with the absent mother, the relationship between sexes, male chauvinism, infatuation, identity, the fear of death, the rebirth to a new life, the passage from gaucho to guapo, from a shrewd horseman to a daring, bullying braggart.