Women, performance and activisms: the re-signification of feminist discourses in Latin American scenic practices

Author(s)

Stela Regina Fischer

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA/SBD)
• Defense date: 2017-03-10

Examining board members

Elisabeth Silva Lopes; Ferdinando Crepalde Martins; Marcos Aurélio Bulhões Martins; Veronica Fabrini Machado de Almeida Rocha; Lúcia Regina Vieira Romano

• Advisor: Elisabeth Silva Lopes

Abstract

This research aims to identify and analyze performance actions of Latin American female artists, based on critical feminist theory and gender studies over recent decades. The thesis is divided into two parts: the first part analyzes works that involve the use of bodies and / or personal and biographical experiences as compositional strategies to visualize the subjectivities of women and their issues, in which they act as artistic proponents of critical, political and poetic postures pertaining to social causes. The actions of artists Regina José Galindo (Guatemala), Nádia Granados (Colombia), and Mexicans Violeta Luna, FOMMA - Fortaleza de la Mujer Maya, Rocío Boliver and Capulas Cia de Arte Negra (São Paulo, Brazil) are analyzed. To this end field research was carried out that involved cartographic and investigative work, such as: audio and video documentation; visit to collections and theatrical research centers; contact with artists and researchers including interviews and testimonies; viewing of plays, performances and events pertaining to the theme. The second part of the thesis discusses practical experimentation of theoretical concepts studied with regards to the author\'s own creative practice within performance, theater and activism within the Rubro Obsceno Collective: a theatrical group of which the author is a member in the city of São Paulo. It narrates, critically and reflexively, the author\'s process of training as an artist, activist, and feminist during the four years of research. The conjunction of investigative procedures presents an overview of how the re-signification of feminist discourses can be read in Latin American scenic practices. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/09957-6 - WOMEN, PERFORMANCE AND ACTIVISM: the resignification of feminist discourses in Latin American scene
• Grantee: Stela Regina Fischer
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate