ABSTRACT
The legend of Trapalanda evokes images of roads paved with silver and gold, inhabitants who never aged, and magical protections against discovery. This mythical city has played multiple roles in Argentina's national imagination. It has been a platform for asserting national modernity, a romanticized symbol of an ancient culture, and of a wild and mysterious Patagonia. This chapter examines this malleable cultural touchstone used to express myriad ideas about the nation and what is and is not Argentine. It argues that these overlapping and competing visions of Trapalanda cast light on the national imagination regarding space and race, particularly Indigenous peoples. While Trapalanda has moved slowly into the realm of a distant colonial fantasy, it continues to resurface in both intellectual and popular settings.
