Synopses & Reviews
In
Disappearing Acts, Diana Taylor looks at how national identity is shaped, gendered, and contested through spectacle and spectatorship. The specific identity in question is that of Argentina, and Taylorandrsquo;s focus is directed toward the years 1976 to 1983 in which the Argentine armed forces were pitted against the Argentine people in that nationandrsquo;s andquot;Dirty War.andquot; Combining feminism, cultural studies, and performance theory, Taylor analyzes the political spectacles that comprised the warandmdash;concentration camps, torture, andquot;disappearancesandquot;andmdash;as well as the rise of theatrical productions, demonstrations, and other performative practices that attempted to resist and subvert the Argentine military.
Taylor uses performance theory to explore how public spectacle both builds and dismantles a sense of national and gender identity. Here, nation is understood as a product of communal andquot;imaginingsandquot; that are rehearsed, written, and stagedandmdash;and spectacle is the desiring machine at work in those imaginings. Taylor argues that the founding scenario of Argentineness stages the struggle for national identity as a battle between menandmdash;fought on, over, and through the feminine body of the Motherland. She shows how the militaryandrsquo;s representations of itself as the model of national authenticity established the parameters of the conflict in the 70s and 80s, feminized the enemy, and positioned the publicandmdash;limiting its ability to respond. Those who challenged the dictatorship, from the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo to progressive theater practitioners, found themselves in what Taylor describes as andquot;bad scripts.andquot; Describing the images, myths, performances, and explanatory narratives that have informed Argentinaandrsquo;s national drama, Disappearing Acts offers a telling analysis of the aesthetics of violence and the disappearance of civil society during Argentinaandrsquo;s spectacle of terror.
Review
andldquo;Disappearing Acts is brilliant. Clearly written, passionate, informed, will-argued, interesting in the extreme, it is a model piece of scholarship.andrdquo;andmdash;Richard Schechner, New York University
Review
andldquo;Stunning, in every sense. Disappearing Acts is a compelling performance in words and in pictures of the seductions played by Argentinaandrsquo;s dictatorship.andrdquo;andmdash;Doris Sommer, Harvard University
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [291]-303) and index.
About the Author
“Disappearing Acts is brilliant. Clearly written, passionate, informed, will-argued, interesting in the extreme, it is a model piece of scholarship.”—Richard Schechner, New York University“Stunning, in every sense. Disappearing Acts is a compelling performance in words and in pictures of the seductions played by Argentina’s dictatorship.”—Doris Sommer, Harvard University