Hidden Messages

Representation and Resistance in Andean Colonial Drama

Raquel Chang-Rodríguez

1999
145 pages
ISBN 083875421X

Hidden Messages: Representation and Resistance in Andean Colonial Drama is a study that takes into account Andean cultural diversity in four works of Peruvian theater written in Quechua and Spanish. In examining these plays, Chang-Rodriguez considers the density of the different traditions that have marked these works; the complexity and variability of their messages in relation to their heterogeneous spectators, readers, and listeners; and how the colonial playwright reworked the original European models. With a critical eye, the author analyzes texts and images of the period to uncover hidden messages resulting from the uniqueness of colonial situations and the interplay of dissimilar traditions.
The author first describes the peculiar nature of the encounter of Europeans and Indians and how the teaching of literacy and evangelization influenced the development of theater. Two Quechua works, Tragedy of Atahualpa's Death and Usca Paucar, are then considered. Staged throughout the colonial centuries, the first work is situated within the context of movements of rebellion and resistance in the Andes. The little-known religious work Usca Paucar, utilizing the classic theme of selling one's soul to the devil, is placed within the context of the campaigns to convert the native population.

About the author:

Dr. Raquel Chang-Rodríguez is Distinguished Professor of Hispanic Literature and Culture at the City College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.