Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
5-2019
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Program
Theatre
Advisor
Jean Graham-Jones
Committee Members
Peter Eckersall
David Savran
Cristián Opazo
Keywords
Dramaturgy, Cultural Policy, Democracy, Chile, Theatre, Performance
Abstract
This dissertation examines the relationship between performance, cultural policy, and citizenship in Chile (1979-present). Through emblematic case studies of key performance interventions (including the work of the Colectivo Acciones de Arte [CADA], Andrés Pérez, Manuela Infante, and Guillermo Calderón), intertwined with analyses of cultural policy and political discourse, I ask how Chilean performance dramaturgically enacts forms of democratic citizenship—first during Pinochet’s dictatorship as a hoped-for future and later, following the democratic transition, as a present, if incomplete, reality. Responding to the vexed transitions to democracy, scholarship on Latin American theatre and performance has emphasized its resistance to the state. I complicate this formulation by examining how these performances have been shaped by the political and institutional structures contingent to their production and by considering how critical political performance is a category produced, in part, by the state. I therefore develop a model that allows for a more nuanced understanding of the performing arts to politics—one that accounts for an interdependent, sometimes paradoxical, and often mutually constitutive dynamic.
Recommended Citation
Thompson, Jennifer J., "Dramaturgies of Democracy: Performance, Cultural Policy, and Citizenship in Chile, 1979–Present" (2019). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3274