"Brave New World": Latin American Appropriations of "The Tempest"
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1997 Representing Shakespeare's "Brave New World": Latin American Appropriations of "The eT mpest". Ximena Gallardo Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Gallardo, Ximena, "Representing Shakespeare's "Brave New World": Latin American Appropriations of "The eT mpest"." (1997). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 6484. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/6484 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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REPRESENTING SHAKESPEARE'S "BRAVE NEW WORLD": LATIN AMERICAN APPROPRIATIONS OF THE TEMPEST A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of English by Ximena Gallardo B.A., Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso-Chile, 1987 M.A. Louisiana State University, 1993 August 1997 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 9808741 UMI Microform 9808741 Copyright 1997, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In memory of Dr. Josephine Roberts. To my mother, for my life. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To begin with, I would like to thank Dr. Anna K. Nardo, my advisor and friend, for her faith in my capability and her support in my times of need. Her suggestions contributed greatly to shape each chapter of this dissertation. I likewise benefited from the contributions of Dr. Femi Euba, Dr. Mark Gasiorowski, Dr. Rosan Jordan, and Dr. Pat McGee, who reviewed my efforts and provided useful advice. I would also like to thank the late Dr. Josephine Roberts for her guidance in ny analysis of The Tenpest. Ultimately, the research of Latin American productions of The Tempest would have not been possible without the contribution of many theater people, particularly Tomas Vidiella and El Conventillo, Willy Semler and La Bordada, Katiuska Rodriguez and Rajatabla, and Magdalena Solorzano and Por Amor A1 Arte. I likewise thank Gustavo Nieto and Andres Occupatti for getting me in touch with Rajatabla, and Jesus Sanchez Barrera for helping me contact Magdalena Solorzano. I am deeply indebted to the patient librarians of the Biblioteca Nacional de Chile, Universidad de Chile, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile— Canpus Oriente, Centro Nacional de las Artes— M&xico, universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, and the Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas, Austin. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Lastly, thanks to David Ifazel for his invaluable editorial comments, to Gloria Casanueva for her help with the translations of Cesaire's works, to Lorena Ponce for her illustrations of the productions and to Robert Gottschalk for his patience and his laser printer. I would especially like to thank my mother, Ximena Casanueva, for her critical commentaries, her constant collaboration, and her moral and financial support. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................... iii ABSTRACT........................................... vii ” CANNIBALIZING a THE TEMPEST.......................... 1 PART I Introduction: Rewriting The Tempest.................14 Chapter One: Ariel, or the spirit of Latin America... .24 Chapter Two: Caliban, or the symbol of Latin America. .35 Chapter Three: Edward Kaxnau Brathwaite.............. 45 Chapter Four: Aime Cesaire......................... 96 Chapter Five: Gieorge Lamming....................... 136 Conclusion to the non-dramatic appropriations....... 162 PART II Introduction: Contemporary Latin American Theater 168 Chapter One: Chilean Productions................... 175 Chapter Two: Venezuelan Production................. 210 Chapter Three: Mexican Production.................. 235 Conclusion: Performing The Tempest................. 251 REPRESENTING THE TEMPEST............................ 257 NOTES.............................................. 272 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................... 313 APPENDIX A: Popular Latin American Songs.............. 336 APPENDIX B: Illustrations of Tenpest productions...... 344 VITA............................................... 353 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ARIEL AMD CALIBAN (An BOMgt to Joai Bnriquo Rod6) Statue by Chilean artist Totila Albert, displayed in "Plaza de la Aviacion" in Parque Balmaceda, Providencia, Santiago de Chile. vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Bspressnting-Sfaatespeageis-“Brave New World* is a descriptive analysis of Latin American appropriations of William Shakespeare' s The Tempest. The first part explores the written appropriations by Jose Enrique Rodo, Roberto Fernandez Retamar, Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Aime Cesaire and George Lamming. The second part analyzes four major dramatic appropriations of The Tempest: a 1989 production by the Chilean conpany El Conventillo, a 1994 adaptation by the Chilean company La Bordada, a 1991 version by the Venezuelan conpany Rajatabla and a 1992 production by the Mexican company Por Amor Al Arte. Representing-Shakespeac&'-a “Brave New. World: also explores the connection between these Latin American appropriations of The Tempest and the culture and literature of Latin America. Specific consideration is given to these appropriations' treatment of the Latin American "third view" of the world (historically symbolized first by Ariel and then by Caliban), magical realism, the trickster hero, and the "camivalization"/" cannibalization" of Shakespeare1s text. Finally, Representing -Shakespeare: s,: Brave-New-Mocld“. argues that some Latin American appropriations not only respond to the colonialist subtext of The Tempest, but read the play as the comedy of Latin America with Caliban as its chief comedian, thus restoring the play's celebratory mode. vii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. "CANNIBALIZING" THE TEMPEST Of all the plays of William Shakespeare, The Tempest speaks most clearly to Latin America. It speaks the language of its colonialism and it evokes the magical reality of the region. In a sense, The Tempest is only possible in Latin America, whose people live the play's conflicts and magic as their daily reality. This dissertation aims to survey and analyze how contenporary Latin America has appropriated (or, in Oswald de Andrade's term, "cannibalized”) The Tempest. My goal is to provide insight into Latin American culture as well as a fresh perspective on Shakespeare‘ s play. There is little precedent for my work because current scholarship contains almost no information about Shakespeare in Latin America. Most Shakespearean scholarship focuses on Shakespeare and his times. Latin American cultural studies, on the other hand, seldom include appropriations of Shakespeare.