Latin American Women Dramatists: Theater, Texts, and Theories

by Catherine Larson (Editor), Margarita Vargas (Editor)

Overview

"The book highlights the many possibilities of the innovative work of these dramatists, and this will, it is to be hoped, help the editors to achieve one of their other key goals: productions of the plays in English." —Times Literary Supplement

"This thoughtfully crafted book with its insightful and informative studies elucidates an overlooked, essential component of the Latin American literary canon." —Choice

Contributors discuss 15 works of Latin-American playwrights, delineate the artistic lives of women dramatists of the last half of the twentieth century—from countries as diverse as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela—and highlight the problems inherent in writing under politically repressive governments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253212405
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	05/22/1999
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Catherine Larson is an Associate professor of Spanish and Adjunct Associate Professor of Women's Studies at Indiana University in Bloomington. She is the author of Language and the Comedia: Theory and Practice and numerous articles on the theater of Golden Age Spain and twentieth-century Latin America, and she has co-edited Brave New Words: Studies in Spanish Golden Age Literature.
Margarita Vargas is an Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is the co-translator of The House on the Beach and co-editor of Women Writing Women: An Anthology of Spanish-American Theater of the 1980s. She has also published critical essays on Mexican literature and Spanish-American theater.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	ix
	Introduction	xi
PART I	Theatrical Self-Consciousness
	Reenacting Politics: The Theater of Griselda Gambaro	3
	Maruxa Vilalta: Una voz en el desierto	23
	Playing a Waiting Game: The Theater of Mariela Romero	41
PART II	Politics A. THE PERSONAL AS POLITICAL
	Power Plays / Plays of Power: The Theater of Pilar Campesino	55
	The Tortured Magic of Hebe Serebrisky 74
	Acting Radical: The Dramaturgy of Consuelo de Castro	89
	B. NATIONAL POLITICS
	The Theater of Diana Raznovich and Percepticide in El desconcierto	113
	A Moveable Space: The Problem ofPuerto Rico in Myrna Casas's Theater	126
PART III	History
	Sabina Berman's Undone Threads	145
	Social Critique and Theatrical Power in the Plays of Isidora Aguirre	159
PART IV	Feminist Positions
	Carmen Boullosa's Obligingly Heretic Art: New Challenges for Criticism	181
	Leilah Assuncao: Marginal Women and the Female Experience	202
	For Woman Only? The Theater of Susana Torres Molina	215
	Masculine Space in the Plays of Estela Lenero	234
	Elusive Dreams, Shattered Illusions: The Theater of Elena Garro	243
	Selected Bibliography	263
	Contributors	269
	Index	273

Editorial Reviews

"Reflecting the burgeoning interest in Hispanic women writers, this volume focuses on a group of writers who have only recently been accorded the attention they so richly deserve. The editors organize the essays under four broad thematic headings: Theatrical Self—Consciousness, Politics, History, and Feminist Positions. Though playwrights included range from the recognized—such as Gámbaro (Gambaro) and Garro—to lesser—known yet nonetheless remarkable dramatists—e.g., Serebrisky—the volume would have profited from a broader geographic distribution: each chapter deals with one woman playwright, but 10 of the 15 come from either Mexico or Argentina. The editors concentrate on dramatists writing in the second half of the 20th century: the oldest author discussed was born in 1920, the youngest in 1960. All chapters follow an identical format: an introduction to the playwright . . . a description of her work in the theater . . . a more substantive analysis . . . of at least one specific text. This thoughtfully crafted book with its insightful and informative studies elucidates an overlooked, essential component of the Latin American literary canon. Recommended for courses supporting work at the upper—division undergraduate level and above."—F. Colecchia, Duquesne University , Choice, November 1999

From the Publisher

Reflecting the burgeoning interest in Hispanic women writers, this volume focuses on a group of writers who have only recently been accorded the attention they so richly deserve. The editors organize the essays under four broad thematic headings: Theatrical Self—Consciousness, Politics, History, and Feminist Positions. Though playwrights included range from the recognized—such as Gámbaro (Gambaro) and Garro—to lesser—known yet nonetheless remarkable dramatists—e.g., Serebrisky—the volume would have profited from a broader geographic distribution: each chapter deals with one woman playwright, but 10 of the 15 come from either Mexico or Argentina. The editors concentrate on dramatists writing in the second half of the 20th century: the oldest author discussed was born in 1920, the youngest in 1960. All chapters follow an identical format: an introduction to the playwright . . . a description of her work in the theater . . . a more substantive analysis . . . of at least one specific text. This thoughtfully crafted book with its insightful and informative studies elucidates an overlooked, essential component of the Latin American literary canon. Recommended for courses supporting work at the upper—division undergraduate level and above.

Choice - F. Colecchia

Reflecting the burgeoning interest in Hispanic women writers, this volume focuses on a group of writers who have only recently been accorded the attention they so richly deserve. The editors organize the essays under four broad thematic headings: Theatrical Self—Consciousness, Politics, History, and Feminist Positions. Though playwrights included range from the recognized—such as Gámbaro (Gambaro) and Garro—to lesser—known yet nonetheless remarkable dramatists—e.g., Serebrisky—the volume would have profited from a broader geographic distribution: each chapter deals with one woman playwright, but 10 of the 15 come from either Mexico or Argentina. The editors concentrate on dramatists writing in the second half of the 20th century: the oldest author discussed was born in 1920, the youngest in 1960. All chapters follow an identical format: an introduction to the playwright . . . a description of her work in the theater . . . a more substantive analysis . . . of at least one specific text. This thoughtfully crafted book with its insightful and informative studies elucidates an overlooked, essential component of the Latin American literary canon. Recommended for courses supporting work at the upper—division undergraduate level and above.

Choice - F. Colecchia]]>

Reflecting the burgeoning interest in Hispanic women writers, this volume focuses on a group of writers who have only recently been accorded the attention they so richly deserve. The editors organize the essays under four broad thematic headings: Theatrical Self—Consciousness, Politics, History, and Feminist Positions. Though playwrights included range from the recognized—such as Gámbaro (Gambaro) and Garro—to lesser—known yet nonetheless remarkable dramatists—e.g., Serebrisky—the volume would have profited from a broader geographic distribution: each chapter deals with one woman playwright, but 10 of the 15 come from either Mexico or Argentina. The editors concentrate on dramatists writing in the second half of the 20th century: the oldest author discussed was born in 1920, the youngest in 1960. All chapters follow an identical format: an introduction to the playwright... a description of her work in the theater... a more substantive analysis... of at least one specific text. This thoughtfully crafted book with its insightful and informative studies elucidates an overlooked, essential component of the Latin American literary canon. Recommended for courses supporting work at the upper—division undergraduate level and above.F. Colecchia, Duquesne University, Choice, November 1999

— F. Colecchia, Duquesne University

Choice