LatAm in Focus: Mafalda, Argentina's Feisty Heroine, Now Speaks English

She hates soup, loves the Beatles, questions authority, and appeals to people across countries and generations. Mafalda, artist Quino’s beloved comic strip from Argentina—first published in 1964—has conquered the world appearing in at least 25 languages. Six decades on, she is finally reaching audiences in the United States and other anglophone countries, translated into English for the first time. 

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In this episode of Latin America in Focus, award-winning translator Frank Wynne, who’s taken on the task of translating Quino’s five volumes of Mafalda for Elsewhere Editions, explains what the six-year-old porteña teaches us about politics, authoritarian regimes, and the world, from the time the strips were originally published to now. As the first English volume debuts, Wynne shares with AS/COA’s Luisa Leme the challenges of translating the strip cartoon’s cultural and satirical nuances for Anglophone audiences and discusses how Mafalda’s political critiques made her universal and eternal—an icon who remains a useful companion to readers in 2025. "Mafalda is profoundly influenced by the politics of Argentina in the fifties and sixties. But also, Mafalda is profoundly influential on not just the politics of Argentina but of Latin America more generally as a sort of symbol of freedom, as a symbol of those who were prepared to question dictatorial regimes.”

Wynne places Quino’s work alongside Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts and Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes as definitive in the world of strip cartoons. He also recommends Marcelo Figueras’ Kamchatka to readers as another example of literature that uses the wonder of children to explore existential questions. 

For the rest of the North American summer, Latin America in Focus will take a break. Carin Zissis and Luisa Leme will be back in September with new episodes on the latest trends in Latin American politics, economics, and culture. In the meantime, we recommend checking out the first volume of Wynne’s translated Mafalda, published by Archipelago.