The Theatre of the Absurd in Spanish America
1969; Western Michigan University; Volume: 3; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/cdr.1969.0017
ISSN1936-1637
Autores Tópico(s)Poetry Analysis and Criticism
ResumoThe Theatre of the Absurd in Spanish America George W. Woodyard The sophistication of the contemporary Spanish American theatre links it seriously with the world avant-garde movement. Following the break with the domination of the Spanish tradition which pre vailed until the experimental period of the late 1920’s and 30’s, the Spanish American playwrights became more eclectic in their orienta tion, expanding their vision to include their European and North American precursors and contemporaries. The reality-illusion con flicts of Pirandello, the alienation techniques of Brecht, the exist entialist preoccupations of Camus and Sartre, and more recently, the absurdist inclinations of Beckett and Ionesco provided models which have been incorporated within a Spanish American context. The stimulus to themes and techniques has resulted in a new wave of ex perimentation which has been widespread, making itself felt in all the major theatrical capitals of Spanish America. The last fifteen years, especially, have been characterized by re newed vigor and activity. In the front rank are such contemporary dramatists as Argentina’s Osvaldo Dragun, Puerto Rico’s René Marqués, Guatemala’s Carlos Solérzano, and Mexico’s Emilio Carballido . These playwrights, and others with a similarly significant production, are the interpreters of a Spanish American reality. Their socio-psychological awareness has resulted in the creation of serious new plays commenting on particular aspects of the social and human condition. Their plays transcend national limitations and become significant commentaries on a universal scale. Much of the sensa tionalism, melodrama, and sentimentality associated with earlier plays has been suppressed through improved control over dramatic struc ture and technique. Complex lighting and sound effects intensify the total theatrical experience, as well as the new dimensions added through the use of spatial dislocations, constructed around a double or revolving stage, and temporal dislocations involving flashbacks or un explained sequences of time. Their characters are vital, complex cre ations, multi-faceted, who function on different levels simultaneously. While incorporating avant-garde devices and techniques acquired from the absurdists into their plays, these dramatists see the absurdity 183 184 Comparative Drama of life, not so much in terms of idealistic man in conflict with a chaotic world, but rather in the social conventions which impinge upon man’s freedom and deprive him of the opportunity of self-expression and dignity. Society is insensitive to his needs; its effects are annihilating. Both internal and external conflicts alienate him from himself and his society. His search for identity, however, continues to take place on many levels, often overlapping — national, cultural, religious, social, psychological, and metaphysical. These conflicts are sometimes posited in terms of massive cultural confrontations, inspired by figures or episodes from the national past, such as that seen in Dragún’s Tupac Amaru, in which the Incan chiefs mission represents the eternal strug gle for individual freedom against an antagonistic society. By dis torting the historical reality, and by couching the struggle within an existential ethic, Dragún effectively bridges the time differential in terms meaningful to modern man. While Dragún’s most recent pro duction reflects a leftist political commitment which debilitates his artistic potential, his early work shows great talent, especially his Historias para ser contadas. These unconventional pieces, conceived in the “commedia dell’arte” tradition as vignettes with disproportion ately long titles, exemplify the dehumanizing pressures of society.1 The cultural conflict is also strong in many of René Marqués’ works, as he decries the assimilation of Puerto Rico’s Hispanic culture into that of her aggressive North American neighbor. Los soles truncos, based on his own earlier short story “Purificación en la calle del Cristo,” recounts the tragedy of three sisters who withdraw into an artificial world in order to compensate for progressive cultural and economic losses and their inability to adjust to the changing times.2 A later Marqués play, La casa sin reloj, introduces the absurd through Marqués’ interpretation of a Puerto Rican reality. Subtitled a “Comedia antipoètica en dos absurdos y un final razonable,” the set ting is the “island of Puerto Rico, although it could be any other place where the absurd dwells.” The protagonist Micaela denies the reality...
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