UCSB Classics 2022 Argyropoulos Lecture
‘Tragedy and Revolución: Refashioning Ancient Greek Drama in the 20th Century Hispanic Caribbean’
By Professor Rosa Andújar, King’s College, University of London
This lecture discusses the manner in which ancient Greek drama assumed a new afterlife in the twentieth century Hispanic Caribbean. Focusing on the invocation of Greek drama in three distinctive political volatile contexts (the Cuban Revolution, Rafael Leónidas Trujillo’s dictatorship, and amidst struggles for independence in US-occupied Puerto Rico), it illustrates the ways in which Cuban, Dominican, and Puerto Rican artists turned to ancient tragedy and comedy to comment upon the urgencies of their present. The talk reveals Greek drama’s unique resonance across this distinctive cultural and hybrid space.