The element used to cover the face is called a mask. It can be a mask, an eye mask or a similar piece. For example: “A man with a Barack Obama mask robbed a bank in the provincial capital”, “At the costume party I am going to use a gorilla mask”, “I need a mask to hide my sleeping face”.
Masks can cover the face completely or only partially. They are generally used for entertainment purposes, at parties and social events, although there are also individuals who use masks to hide their identity for other purposes (committing a crime, to name one case). In ancient times, the use of masks was linked to rituals and ceremonies.
There are also masks that are used for protection. The fencers wear a mask to avoid getting hit in the face. Those who work with bees, for their part, usually use a mask and a special suit to avoid being bitten by these animals.
The notion of a mask, on the other hand, has several symbolic uses. The expression “take off the mask” refers to acting without hypocrisy or falsehood: “Stop lying! Take off the mask and tell me what you feel “, ” This journalist should be taken off the mask so that he can say what he thinks. “
In Argentina, the false person or who likes to pretend is named as a mask: “Don’t be a mask and I came to play soccer with your friends”, “Marcos is a mask: he says he likes rock but loves to dance bachata and meringue ”.
Also in Argentina there was a weekly called Caras y Caretas, which was published between 1898 and 1941, with a return four decades later that lasted only one edition and one in 2005, which continues to the present day. The category in which it falls is political humor.
Although this publication is associated with Argentina, its origins are in Uruguay, more precisely in Montevideo, where a weekly with the same name was founded in 1890, characterized by coverage of current affairs dyed with humor and political satire., all crowned by photographs and cartoons. Its director, Eustaquio Pellicer, moved to Buenos Aires when the weekly reached number 144, and it was then that it began to be published in the neighboring country.
Caras y Caretas enjoyed great popularity, especially in its early years, partly because of the high quality of its images and the audacity with which its articles were written, with a fusion of serious journalism and humor that was very attractive to face to the political, social and cultural problems of the country without falling into depression.
In Spain it was also well received during the first half of the 20th century. Its director and correspondent was Mariano Miguel de Val, who also worked in the direction of the Ateneo magazine, and he managed to get the weekly newspaper to reach many readers.
Given the nature of the magazine Caras y Caretas, it goes without saying that one of the fundamental roles has always been played by cartoonists; among them are Alejandro Sirio, Hermenegildo Sábat Lleó, José María Cao Luaces and Manuel Mayol.
One of the reasons why Caras y Caretas magazine is so respected in the literary community is that several acclaimed writers began their professional careers on its pages; for example, it was there that Horacio Quiroga published his first stories. In 2004, an exhibition was held by the Museum of Drawing and Illustration in the facilities of the National Library, where about one hundred and a half original drawings were presented, made by more than forty illustrators who had participated in the weekly.
