The Face and Body of Horror: Representations of Ingrid Olderock

Abstract

In the Chilean imaginary Ingrid Olderock is constructed as a monster associated with the power of the institution of Carabineros and later with the agencies of repression in the Pinochet dictatorship. Olderock represents an emblematic extreme where different discourses on violence and insanity overlap and that the butch figure condenses as an abject character. Horror is linked not only to gender but to the non-normative sexuality of the cruel torturer.

Olderock appears in the play La mujer de los perros (2017) by Eduardo Vega which underscores her  insanity, lack of femininity, and a desire to dominate and inflict pain are her signature. The abject female body is here significantly associated with a heartless brutality and the absence of justice. On the other hand, the play Irán 3730 (2019) by Patricia Artés, Olderock is not seen even though she was in charge of the torture house La Venda Sexy in the property where the dramatic action  unfolds in the present. These two takes towards the past and Olderock  sustain themselves in different visions of the legacy of the dictatorship. Artés has a gender perspective that allows for a broader understanding of history and the  role of women activists in the past. Their impact in the present displaces the torturer and highlights feminist activism and the political struggle of former militants for their recognition and for justice.