EL TEATRO CAMPESINO DE LUIS VALDEZ, 1965 - 1980. (SOUTHWEST, UNITED STATES, CHICANO).

Abstract

Since its formation in 1965, Luis Valdez' El Teatro Campesino has evolved through various stages, always addressing the sociopolitical struggles and perspectives of the Chicano. In the present doctoral dissertation, entitled El Teatro Campesino de Luis Valdez, 1965-1980, we examine the various transitions which this theatrical group has undergone, and concurrently, analyze some of the plays corresponding to each of the troupe's evolutionary stages. Our textual analysis is focused on the parameters which are aluded to in each play, and also is based on a structural approach of examining the dramatic text itself. In the first chapter, which includes a general introduction to Chicano Theater, we outline historical and thematic characteristics of the theater in the Southwest of the United States. At the same time, we define the term "Aztlan" as a national and cultural entity since 1969. In the second chapter we postulate the following periodic classification of El Teatro Campesino. A first stage of Social Consciousness Raising (1965-1970); a second of Return to Cultural Origins and Self Identity (1971-1975); and a third of Commercialization (1975-1980). In addition, we redefine some of the theoretical and technical concepts previously interpreted by critics regarding the troupe's period of Social Consciousness Raising. In the third chapter we discuss and analyze some of the theoretical considerations involved in the dichotomy present in studying the representational act (live theater) as opposed to the dramatic text. In this chapter we offer a textual analysis of four Actos: Las dos caras del patroncito; La conquista de Mexico; No saco nada de la escuela; and Soldado Razo. In our analysis we examine, in accordance to the theories proposed by Tzvetan Todorov, the "historia" and the "discurso" of each Acto, while studying the social message each conveys. In the last two chapters--four and five--we study and analyze the plays Bernabe and Zoot-Suit and conclude that El Teatro Campesino has not completely lost its social character encompassing the Chicano cultural environment, contrary to what many critics have maintained.