University Press Copublishing Division / Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
Pages: 196
•
Trim: 6⅜ x 9½
978-1-61147-467-1 • Hardback • December 2011 • $108.00 • (£83.00)
978-1-61147-634-7 • Paperback • August 2013 • $58.99 • (£45.00)
978-1-61147-468-8 • eBook • December 2011 • $56.00 • (£43.00)
Linda Saborío is assistant professor of Spanish at Northern Illinois University.
Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Theatrics of Performing Difference
One: Parodying Otherness: Beauty Contests, Beauty Myths, and Beautiful Señoritas
Two: Role Playing Latinidad: Engaging the Female Body in Diverse Identities
Three: Staging a Chicana and Latina Body Politic
Four: Marketing Difference: The “Other” Female Consumer
Five: Latina Bodies in a Global Market
Six: Reclaiming Religion: Milagros and the Sexual Objectification of Latinas
Final Curtain: The Exposure of Latina Bodies
Bibliography
Linking performance and theater studies, women's studies, and Chicana/Latina feminist theory, Saborío (Northern Illinois Univ.) examines the language and staged social images of the female body in diverse representations of Latina subjects in theater. She argues that Latina characters in the plays she discusses redefine the language and images used by the systems that oppress them "through a defiance of the body as a signifier of fixed identities and a rescripting of the oppressive language used to define it." After a cogent, well-researched, scholarly introduction that lays out the theoretical and critical frameworks, the six chapters of the book develop the main argument carefully and clearly. Each chapter builds on its predecessor: first, Saborío exposes dominant stereotypes; then she explores the critical possibilities of Latinidad; from there, she addresses the concept of a Latina body politic in grassroots feminist movements. She then theorizes the ways in which the Latina body has been gendered and racialized by capitalism and patriarchy, and the ways in which resistance is articulated along these lines. Finally, she offers a critique of the Catholic Church in Latin America in her discussion of Anne García-Romero's play Santa Concepción. Summing Up: Highly recommended.
— Choice Reviews