Freak performances : dissidence in Latin American theater / Analola Santana.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Santana, Analola, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theater--Political aspects--Latin America.

Theater.

Theater and society--Latin America.

Theater and society.

Monsters in the theater.

Other (Philosophy) in the performing arts.

Postcolonialism--Social aspects--Latin America.

Postcolonialism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (267 pages)

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor, Michigan : University of Michigan Press, [2018]

Summary:

The figure of the freak as perceived by the Western gaze has always been a part of the Latin American imaginary, from the letters that Columbus wrote about his encounters with dog-faced people to Shakespeare's Caliban. The freak acquires greater significance in a globalized, neoliberal world that defines the "abnormal" as one who does not conform mentally, physically, or emotionally and is unable or unwilling to follow the economic and cultural norms of the institutions in power. Freak Performances examines the continuing effects of colonialism on modern Latin American identities, with a particular focus on the way it has constructed the body of the other through performance. Theater questions the representations of these bodies, as it enables the empowerment of the silenced other; the freak as a spectacle of otherness finds in performance an opportunity for re-appropriation by artists resisting the dominant authority. Through an analysis of experimental theater, dance theater, performance art, and gallery-based installation art across eight countries, Analola Santana explores the theoretical issues shaped by the encounters and negotiations between different bodies in the current Latin American landscape.

Contents:

Introduction. The Freak Onstage: From Colonialism to Neoliberalism

From Monster to Freak: A Latin American Genealogy of Corporeal Difference

Danger Unleashed: The Pathology of Difference as Deviance in the Latin American Neoliberal State

The Savage Exotic: Gender and Class in the Construction of Freakery

Violence and Politics on the Freak: The Perversion of Citizenship

Conclusions

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on information from publisher.

Contains:

Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan), issuing body.

ISBN:

9780472124077

0472124072

OCLC:

1037850844