Pragmatic Liberation and the Politics of Puerto Rican Diasporic Drama explores the work of a unique group of playwrightsPuerto Rican dramatists writing in the United Stateswho offer a model of political engagement. As members of the Puerto Rican diaspora, they have a heightened awareness of the systematic discrimination and the colonial citizenship created by Puerto Ricos territorial status. Pragmatic Liberation analyzes the work of established playwrights as well as work that has previously received little attention in the world of theater studies, including René Marquéss Palm Sunday. The book demonstrates the strategies these playwrights use to model a nuanced way of moving toward liberation while being sensitive to the potential impact these actions might have on those closest to us. This is a crucially important model that needs more attention in our currently polarized political moment.
Recenzijos
"Pragmatic Liberation is a timely study that responds to the divisiveness that characterizes contemporary political discourse...Rossini's monograph will speak to scholars in fields ranging from Theatre Studies to English, Spanish, and Ethnic Studies, and it is a particularly welcome contribution to literary studies of the Hispanic Caribbean diaspora because it engages with a genre that has generally been neglected." -- Comparative Drama "I recommend the introduction as a teachable essay for an undergraduate course and the monograph as a whole for anyone who wants to understand the intellectual contributions of Puerto Rican diasporic writers to the theorization of revolution, activism, and performance politics." -- Latin American Theatre Review
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION. Given Circumstances, Premise, and Pragmatic Strategies of
Liberation
CHAPTER
1. From Palm Sunday to REVOLT!: Rethinking the Political Horizon of
Puerto Rican
Diasporic Drama
CHAPTER
2. Symbolic Action as Pragmatic Politics: Lolita on the Stage
CHAPTER
3. Diasporic Return and the Limits of Pragmatic Liberation
CHAPTER
4. Before Revolution, Honesty?: The Everyday Pragmatics of Activist
Work
CHAPTER
5. After the Revolution: Massacres, Collateral Damage, and Moving
Forward
CONCLUSION. The Labyrinth of Free Association and Sustainable Pragmatic
Liberation
NOTES
REFERENCES
Jon D. Rossini is Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance and Performance Studies, at the University of California, Davis.
