LAC Forum: Klaus Gallo on ‘Politics and Theatre in Post-Independent Argentina, 1810-1837’
Performing the Revolution. Politics and theatre in post-independent Argentina. 1810-1837
Klaus Gallo
The political, social and cultural influence of theatric representations in Latin America during the years following the revolutions of the early 19th century has not received much attention. In recent years there has been an increase in the studies related with this specific subject matter, but most of these works have not transcended significantly and therefore remain as valuable, but somewhat marginal contributions regarding the bustling theatre scene which arose in many of those territories during that period.
My own work attempts to show the relevance of the theatre in the River Plate area, and more specifically in Buenos Aires, during the first two decades after the outbreak of the 1810 revolution. It focusses on the manner in which the staging of plays was encouraged at different moments by the ruling elites, both for general entertainment as well as for pedagogic purposes. In this sense, the plays during post-independent Argentina were essentially seen as a useful vehicle for the promotion and reception of the diverse set of principles brought about by the new political scenario.
Theatric representations were in many instances considered as ideal occasions for the transmission of republican ideals and values, something that became more evident after the newly established Latin American republics formally broke with the Spanish Empire. This was to be the case in Argentina after independence was declared in 1816. Along with the political and economic measures introduced since the revolution, many of the reforms applied in different spheres of popular culture aimed at establishing new customs considered essential in order to leave behind certain cultural vestiges of the Spanish legacy.
The introduction of melodramatic plays in Buenos Aires during this period, for example, is evidence of efforts made to generate more sophisticated performances than those identified with the Hispanic theatrical tradition. Furthermore, other modes of entertainment inherited from Spain, such as bullfighting, were now considered excessively brutal and primitive. This practice was to be abolished in the early 1820s emphasizing a process of political and cultural change, which especially appealed to the younger generations of porteños, the inhabitants of that city.
Another important feature to bear in mind, associated with the belief that the impulse of dramatic arts were ideal conduits for the encouragement of patriotic attitudes in the new republics, is the emergence of associations created for the purpose of assessing the quality of the plays. This was the case of the Asociación del Buen Gusto y el Teatro, which was established in Buenos Aires in 1817. The main objective of its members was to make sure that the plays being staged matched the elevated artistic standards that were now to be expected.
The fact that the Asociación was integrated by prominent members of Rioplatense society, including politicians and clerics, evidences the strong links which existed between the cultural and political spheres at that time. Pretty much connected with this topic are the perceptible levels of popularity enjoyed by the main referents of the theatre scene in Buenos Aires. In this sense, performers such as Trinidad Guevara, Ambrosio Morante, Juan Casacuberta and Antonio Culebras, were already receiving significant levels of praise.
By adapting their artistic abilities to the requirements of the new plays being staged, these actors and actresses were instrumental in elevating the standards of theatric representations in the city during the following decades. Also worth noticing is the manner in which the plays and performances were now under the scrutiny of the critics of the main newspapers, a fact worth mentioning given that in the countries with strong theatric traditions in Europe, the appearance of artistic reviews and critiques in the media were very recent.
During the first half of the 1820’s a wide variety of reforms were introduced by the newly formed Buenos Aires government, which had become an autonomous political unit. These were essentially social, political and economic, and were instigated by Bernardino Rivadavia, a key figure of this administration, who also considered the theatre an ideal instrument of publicity for the approval of those reform. This particular political experience would further emphasize the visible degree of connections between the spheres of politics and popular culture.
This article, specially written for our LAC FORUM, is based on Klaus Gallo’s seminar paper presented at the Latin American History Seminar last Hilary Term. Klaus Gallo is Associate Professor of the History Faculty at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Argentina. He obtained a D.Phil in Modern History at the University of Oxford. He was a member of St. Antony’s and Wolfson College, where he was awarded the Norman Hargreaves Scholarship for studies in the history of Spain and Spanish America. He is author of De la Invasión al Reconocimiento. Gran Bretaña y el Río de la Plata 1806-1826, Buenos Aires, A-Z Editores, 1994, which was translated to English as Great Britain and Argentina. From Invasión to Recognition 1806-1826, Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2001; co-editor with Nancy Calvo and Roberto Di Stefano of Los Curas de la Revolución, Buenos Aires, Emecé, 2002; editor of Las Invasiones Inglesas, Buenos Aires, Eudeba, 2004; co-editor with Graciela Batticuore and Jorge Myers of Resonancias Románticas, Buenos Aires, Eudeba, 2005; author of The Struggle for an Enlightened Republic. Buenos Aires and Rivadavia, Institute for the Studies of the Americas, University of London, 2006; Bernardino Rivadavia. El primer presidente argentino, Buenos Aires, Edhasa, 2012; and Las Invasiones Argentinas. Nuestros Futbolistas en Inglaterra, Buenos Aires, Editorial Planeta, 2017
