Children, Narratives, and Performance: An Analysis of Two Plays

Abstract

For this analysis, we will examine the plays Antivisita: formas de entrar y de salir de la ESMA (Antivisit: Ways to Enter and Exit the ESMA) and Cuarto intermedio: guía práctica para asistir a audiencias de juicios de lesa humanidad (Recess: Practical Guide to Attending Human Rights Trials). Both are created and performed by three sons and daughters of disappeared or exiled parents during Argentina’s last dictatorship. We will focus on the narratives these works convey, foregoing purely theatrical analysis. We aim to comprehend and compare the plays considering their production context, and identifying common elements that connect them with a broad range of works created by children of disappeared or exiled parents. We start from the hypothesis of the existence of a type of autofictional narrative that children tend to reproduce in the various spaces they inhabit.

To achieve this, we will first analyze the works to identify their key points. Then, we will examine the characteristics of the autofictional narrative used by the children in their artistic works, taking into account previous analyses conducted on the relevant social subject. Finally, we propose reconsidering the representations that children enact in the public sphere.

With this study, we aim to generate analyses of the narratives of children that, based on specific cases, delve into the writing and expression strategies they employ in public and artistic environments. We will consider not only their ability to express themselves but also the social reception of their voices.