Cultural icons in Latin American theater : studies of Frida Kahlo, Carlos Gardel, Eva Perón and Selena Quintanilla-Pérez

Abstract

My dissertation entitled Cultural Icons in Latin American Theater : Studies of Frida Kahlo Carlos Gardel, Eva Perón and Selena Quintanilla-Pérez demonstrates that the thread that unites these figures is their foundation in art and performance. Although in some cases much has been written about these famous artists, there is surprisingly little research in the area of theater. Through their individual arts (Kahlo's paintings, Gardel and the tango, Evita's career as an actor and Selena's Tex-Mex style music), this study shows how these famous figures fashioned public personae and created roles for themselves that they subsequently performed in everyday life. These performances on stage and in life became layered, and this multidimensionality allows them to continue their popularity even after death. Their art and images have begun to appear everywhere, and in the same way that historical icons came to represent various liturgical texts, these icons of popular culture resurfaced at the end of the twentieth-century as symbols for debate about various discourses circulating in literature, culture, society and politics. Through a performance and cultural studies based approach, this project explores topics as diverse as gender studies, Mexican politics from the Revolution to the 1968 massacre at Tlatelolco, the NAFTA trade agreement, dictatorships in South America, national apathy, immigration, exile, border cultures and Latino(a)/Chicano(a) identity