Desde los márgenes: Contrahistorias al filo del siglo XXI en el teatro mexicano contemporáneo.

Abstract

The monumental events of Independence and Revolution are the stage on which the elite act out Mexico’s national drama of “official history.” However, since 1994, the year in which the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, the United States of America and Canada came into force, neoliberalism has taken the leading role on Mexico's political, economic, social and cultural stage. This study illustrates the impact of this central character on the Mexican people through the exploration of the work of a group of playwrights who have reacted critically to the scenarios created by neoliberal discourse. The contemporary history of Mexico as portrayed in the following pages is not mere fiction. On the contrary: the plays considered here reflect the reality that the State conceals offstage, well away from the critical eyes of its people, the audience, as the dramatists have removed the festive mask from the disfigured face of present day Mexico to reveal how their country has regressed to become a tragic figure on the international stage. From the margins, these playwrights present a counterhistory which gives a voice and presence to those sidelined by hegemonic discourse. Their task begins in chapter 1 with a journey through the “official history” of the nation to show the excesses of power and authoritarism which have been a constant in the nation’s history, as well as the tendency to favour foreign interests. In chapter 2, the veracity of history is questioned through historical characters from the Conquest. “State crimes” committed against women are the subject of discussion on feminicide in chapter 3. Finally, chapter 4 emphasises the negative effects of neoliberal policies through the theme of migration to the northern border and illegal migration into the United States.