Title Resituating the Cultural Meanings of Lucha Libre Mexicana: A Practice- Based Exploration of Diasporic Mexicanness Type Thesis URL http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/8728/ Date 2015 Citation Montoya Ortega, Marcela (2015) Resituating the Cultural Meanings of Lucha Libre Mexicana: A Practice-Based Exploration of Diasporic Mexicanness. PhD thesis, University of the Arts London. Creators Montoya Ortega, Marcela Usage Guidelines Please refer to usage guidelines at http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/policies.html or alternatively contact
[email protected]. License: Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives Unless otherwise stated, copyright owned by the author Resituating the Cultural Meanings of Lucha Libre Mexicana: A Practice-Based Exploration of Diasporic Mexicanness Marcela Montoya Ortega Volume I Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of University of the Arts London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 2015 ABSTRACT Since the 1930s Lucha Libre Mexicana, Mexican wrestling, has evolved as a manifestation of popular culture combining spectacle, sport, theatre and ritual. Lucha Libre Mexicana, an event based performance using the mask, connects and reconnects to myth, stories, and ritual that societies, in this case the Mexican, need in order to find meaning within daily events and the contradictions and questions that confront every individual. This research analyses the cultural meanings of Lucha Libre Mexicana from the point of view of a diasporic artist and contextualizes knowledge to determine artistic practice. Identity and the construction of identity are explored throughout this thesis. The various aspects of Lucha Libre Mexicana such as the masks, the holds, the wrestlers themselves, and the performative nature of the spectacle, serve as referents to make connections to the artist’s own culture and the idea of constructed Mexicanness.