The Argentines of Paris: Theatrical Networks and Assemblages

Author

Stefano Boselli, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

2-2020

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Theatre

Advisor

Jean Graham-Jones

Committee Members

Marvin Carlson

Peter Eckersall

Subject Categories

Dramatic Literature, Criticism and Theory | European Languages and Societies | Interdisciplinary Arts and Media | Latin American Languages and Societies | Theatre History

Keywords

French Theatre and Performance, Argentine Theatre and Performance, Actor-Network Theory, Assemblage Theory

Abstract

This work investigates key theatre productions written or directed by Argentines who left Buenos Aires, for personal, artistic, and/or political reasons, and established themselves in Paris. Case studies refer to the lives, visual art, theatre companies, official appointments, and global networks that contributed to their creations between the 1960s and 1990s. Although others are mentioned briefly, the main focus remains on a cluster of theatre practitioners who more frequently connected with each other around playwright, performer, and graphic artist Copi (nom de plume of Raúl Damonte Botana). These included director Jorge Lavelli; director and performer Jérôme Savary; director and visual artist Alfredo Rodríguez Arias; costume designer Juan Stoppani; set designer Roberto Platé; and performers Facundo Bo, Marucha Bo, and Marilú Marini. As these artists became part of the larger group of intellectuals commonly known as “the Argentines of Paris,” their individual experiences renewed a historically privileged relationship between Argentina and France. The unique nature of this network affords an analysis at several scales, from single artists to international relations at the global level. This work’s main contribution to the field is a general method, derived from actor-network and assemblage theories, for a thick description of the complexity of agents involved in artistic production, including non-human actors. In order to make sense of this intricate web of relations, analysis mainly draws on critical theories developed by sociologists Bruno Latour, Michel Callon, and John Law on actor-networks; artist and philosopher Manuel DeLanda on assemblages; and social anthropologist Tim Ingold on meshwork, all in some way related to the rhizomatic philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari.

Recommended Citation

Boselli, Stefano, "The Argentines of Paris: Theatrical Networks and Assemblages" (2020). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3564