Theatre and Cartographies of Power

From the colonial period to independence and into the twenty-first century, Latin American culture has been mapped as a subordinate “other” to Europe and the United States. In reaction to these shifting power dynamics, theatre scholars and artists have continuously rewritten and remapped Latina/o American cultural histories. Theatre and Cartographies of Power: Repositioning the Latina/o Americas, edited by Jimmy A. Noriega and Analola Santana, reconsiders geographical space and power and the ways in which theatrical and performance histories have been constructed throughout the Americas. Essays bridge political, racial, gender, class, and national divides that have traditionally restricted and distorted our understanding of Latin American theatre and performance.

Contributors – scholars and artists from throughout the Americas, including well-known playwrights, directors, and performers – imagine how to reposition the Latina/o Americas in ways that offer agency to its multiple peoples, cultures, and histories. In addition, they explore the ways artists can create new maps and methods for their creative visions.

Building on hemispheric and transnational models, Theatre and Cartographies of Power demonstrates the intellectual capacity of theatre studies to challenge the up-down/North-South approach that dominates scholarship in the United States and presents a strong case for a repositioning of the Latina/o Americas in theatrical histories and practices.