Usted está aquí: Antigone against the Standardization of Violence in Contemporary Mexico
2011; Routledge; Volume: 59; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/08831157.2012.626379
ISSN1940-3216
Autores Tópico(s)Latin American Literature Studies
ResumoAbstract The reception and special attention that Sophocles' Antigone has received in Latin America throughout the ages is undeniable. The play deals with many issues that are relevant to Latin America's own history, and Latin American playwrights have made good use of the tragedy to express the dilemmas of their own societies. Among many other plays, Antigone has been used to condemn the abuse of power and the oppression of minorities; it has also been employed to denounce the cowardice of a complacent society. In a recent play by Mexican writer Bárbara Colio, entitled Usted está aquí (You Are Here), the tragedy appears to serve a new purpose. As this article aims to demonstrate, in this play Antigone helps denounce the standardization and trivialization of violence in contemporary Mexico. Usted está aquí is a crude wake-up call for an unsuspecting Mexican audience. Even though it is evident that the play is not a new adaptation of Antigone, echoes of the tragedy can be heard throughout its pages. Sophoclean techniques and tragic motifs are exploited against the background of a truly alarming problem faced by Mexican society in recent times: the permanent threat of kidnapping. Keywords: Antigone kidnappingMexico Usted está aquí violence Notes I am grateful to Bárbara Colio for her insightful remarks and to Konstantinos P. Nikoloutsos for his helpful comments, suggestions, and thorough editing of my paper. 1. There is an extensive list of examples collected by Pianacci, Antígona—also "Antígona" and "Rito"—and some others studied by Cróquer Pedrón; González Betancur; and Nelli, "Identity" and "Antígona," just to mention some of them. See also Fiet; Rosario Moreno. 2. For some excellent, recent collections of essays both on Sophocles' Antigone and on later versions/ productions/rewritings of the play, see Mee and Foley; Söderbäck; Wilmer and Zukauskaite. For some very interesting approaches to the play, see Fradinger; Lane; Montoya. 3. Political theatre in Latin America has always played a vital, nonconformist, denouncing role. For some studies on modern Latin American theater and its relationship with politics, see Rizk; Taylor; Taylor and Constantino. 4. See Moreno 117, 247. 5. For the role of the police in kidnappings, see Gómez. On Mexican safety policies, see Maya Solís. For details on other kidnappings in Mexico, see Llorens and Moreno 281–303. For kidnappings with the same modality but in Argentina, see Aguirre. 6. Bárbara Colio, private correspondence to M. F. Nelli, 18 Aug. 2010. 7. The plot of the play seems to follow loosely the "plot" of the case. For details on the case, see Llorens and Moreno 281–303; Moreno. 8. Isabel Miranda de Wallace dedicated her life to finding her son's kidnappers. She founded a civil society called Alto al Secuestro ("Stop Kidnappings") to provide help and guidance to victims and their families. She participated actively in promoting the creation of a law to deal with the prevention of kidnappings and an improvement in some of the existing laws. 9. Bárbara Colio, private correspondence to M. F. Nelli, 18 Aug. 2010. 10. Translations of Spanish texts into English are mine unless otherwise stated. Quotations of the play are from Colio. Due to space restrictions, in most cases only the English translation is provided. 11. The "square space, closed" proposed by the writer as a stage direction was cleverly modified by director Lorena Maza in her production of the play (Teatro Benito Juárez, México D.F., April, May, June 2010; Teatro El Galeón de la Ciudad de México, June 2010). Here, the entire stage was actually covered with chairs, apparently randomly placed, facing each other. The chairs onstage were also the audience's seats. The actors sat on some of these chairs as well, as if they were part of the audience, or rather as if the audience was part of the action. For some pictures and a link to a short video of Maza's production, go to http://www.barbaracolio.com/html/_fotosvideos.html. 12. Bárbara Colio, private correspondence to M. F. Nelli, 18 Aug. 2010. See also her interview with Leñero. 13. Also the contrast between a child's and an adult's reaction to events: laughs and fun versus concern and annoyance. 14. The "joy-before-catastrophe ode" (Esposito 87) is a recurring dramatic technique in Sophocles. See Ajax 693–718, Antigone 1115–54, Oedipus Tyrannus 1086–1109, Women of Trachus 33–62, in Lloyd-Jones and Wilson. 15. The plague is a challenging introductory situation that the play's "hero" must face; in addition, the parallelism between the events happening in the political world and those occurring in the natural world are well-known tragic motifs. See, e.g., Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus and Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis. Drought, disease, infertility, death, and misfortunes are also recurring tragic motifs. For a detailed study of the plague in Athenian imagery and drama, see Mitchell-Boyask. 16. The birds' migration and its connotations are picked up later in the play. The situation gets so dangerous and oppressive that when Ana mentions that there are no more birds singing, that all have left, Isaura suggests that they should do the same (27). Leaving is a very tempting option: trying to escape the economic crisis, the violence, the lack of jobs to look for better opportunities and a better education. In recent times many Latin Americans have chosen to emigrate. But for Ana there is no other place to go, because we cannot leave behind who we are and where we come from. If everybody leaves, who will remain to fight for change, trying to make things better? Ana's reply, "Where to?" (27), puts emphasis on the second option: staying. 17. See, e.g., the so-called Latin American dictator novels: El gigante Amapolas (J. B. Alberdi), Yo, el supremo (A. Roa Bastos), El recurso del método (A. Carpentier), El otoño del patriarca (G. García Márquez), El señor Presidente (M. A. Asturias), La batalla (R. Walsh), Cuerpo a cuerpo (D. Viñas), Los hijos de Amanda Luna (J. C. Tealdi), just to mention some of them. 18. Reelections, extensions of the original presidential period, changes in the constitution, and alliances between parties are only a few of the old tricks to stay in power. It is clear that the enticing power of the chair is not limited exclusively to Latin America. 19. See above, note 15. 20. See Moreno 105–10; 117–19. The shocking banners immediately caught the attention of the media. See Amador; Gómez C.; Laguna; Nila. 21. The same kind of contrast between natural and artificial can be seen earlier in the play, in the scene with the birds and the helicopter. 22. In Sophocles' Antigone, the apocalyptic oracular interpretation of the birds' behavior is in charge of Tiresias (lines 998–1022). 23. The translation belongs to Lloyd-Jones 35. "Man" is used in the sense of human beings; the Greek is anthrōpou not andrós. See Antigone, lines 332–33. For the Greek text, see Lloyd-Jones and Wilson 196. 24. But the standardization of violence is not new, and it is not restricted to Mexico, either. See Buvinic, Morrison, and Orlando; Llorens and Moreno; Salama. As Ana's memories show, violence is of old date: her own father had been an earlier victim. 25. Extract from a radio interview with Bárbara Colio. See Leñero. On these "foolish," "crazy" women, see Cróquer Pedrón 117–18. 26. In Laura Yusem's 1986–88 production of Antígona furiosa, by Griselda Gambaro, the audience was also included as part of the performance. See Nelli, "Antígona" 357–58. 27. On the subject, see Nelli, "Antígona." 28. See Nelli, "Antígona" 364–65. 29. Unable to fulfill his duty, failing to live up to the initial expectations, el Señor decides to provide his voters with some distractions that would make them "believe again": the return of some birds and bottled, imported drinking water.
Referência(s)