 | From Scenarios to Networks: Performing the Intercultural in Colonial Mexico Subjects: Performing arts -- Social aspects -- Mexico -- History; Performing arts -- Anthropological aspects -- Mexico; Mexico -- History -- Spanish colony 1540–1810; Mexico -- Social life and customs; Intercultural communication -- Mexico -- History; In this innovative study, Leo Cabranes-Grant analyzes four intercultural events in the Viceroyalty of New Spain that took place between 1566 and 1690. Rather than relying on racial labels to describe alterations of identity, Cabranes-Grant focuses on experimentation, rehearsal, and the interaction between bodies and objects. His analysis shows how scenarios are invested with affective qualities, which in turn enable cultural and semiotic change. Central to his argument is Bruno Latour's Actor-Network Theory, which figures society as a constantly evolving web of relationships among objects, people, and spaces. In examining these scenarios, Cabranes-Grant attempts to discern the reasons why the conditions of an intensified moment within this ceaseless flow take on a particular value and inspire their re-creation. Cabranes-Grant offers a fresh perspective on Latour's theory and reorients debates concerning history and historiography in the field of performance studies.
LEO CABRANES-GRANT is a professor in the Department of Theater and Dance and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at UC Santa Barbara. |
