The opening sentence of Esteban Echeverría's “El matadero” is ambiguous, but at the same time clearly programmatic: “A pesar de que la mía es historia, no la empezaré por el arca de Noé y la genealogía de sus ascendientes como acostumbraban a hacerlo los antiguos historiadores españoles de América que deben ser nuestros prototipos” (“Although the following narrative is historical, I shall not begin it with Noah's ark and the genealogy of his forbears as was wont once to be done by the ancient Spanish historians of America who should be our model(s”). This is quite a portentous beginning for a mere novella, but Echeverría's is a very ambitious text. The Argentine writer wanted to depict in his story the ruthless repression to which opponents of Rosas' dictatorship were being subjected. The explicit scenes of mayhem are presented in the clinical tone of a scientific observer describing natural phenomena.