Emotions of war, but in the theatre: A case of theatrical expectation

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.48162/rev.43.061

Keywords:

theatrical expectation, empirical cognitive poetics, emotions, emotions of war, empathy and distance

Abstract

According to some thinkers, “new wars” do not fit well with the typical idea of warfare in the modern era: a declared confrontation between states. Critical discourse is even suspicious of the word “war”. Sometimes it looks for other names, such as “persecution” or “massacre”, and the same goes for old wars similar to the new ones. The play studied in this paper is precisely a critical review of the past, a farce of historical materials that dismantles the official account of the so-called “Conquest of the Desert” (1878-1885), an incursion by the Argentine army into territories inhabited by indigenous populations: Los establos de Su Majestad, revived in 2023 by Víctor Arrojo in Mendoza, Argentina. In addition to the play, the article analyses the reception of a group of spectators, using a cognitive approach and an empirical method. To do so, a sample was previously collected through a combination of techniques: discussion groups and a questionnaire. The qualitative analysis focuses on emotional reactions and the cognitive elaboration of emotions. By comparing the critical review proposed by the play with the response of a group of spectators, questions and hypotheses about the effectiveness of this type of critical discourse will be raised.

Author Biography

Luis Emilio Abraham, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo

Luis Emilio Abraham holds a PhD in Modern Literature from the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina), where he is a full professor and teaches Modern and Contemporary Spanish Literature, Didactics of Literature, Literary Theory and Semiotics. He holds a Master's degree in Hispanic Philology from the CSIC. He has received scholarships from the Carolina Foundation and CONICET. As a researcher, he has devoted himself mainly to literary theory, theatrical theory and current theater in Spanish. In addition to numerous articles and contributions to collective books, he has published Escenas que sostienen mundos. Mímesis y modelos de ficción en el teatro (Madrid, CSIC, Anejos de Revista de Literatura, 2008) and has coordinated the volume Análisis de la dramaturgia argentina actual (Madrid: Antígona, 2015), directed by José Luis García Barrientos. He is a member of the International Network of Latin American and European Theater Researchers (RIITLE), the Argentine Association of Hispanists and the Group of Studies on Literary Criticism. He is director and scientific editor of the Boletín GEC. He currently directs a research project at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo that studies literary reading based on empirical methodologies: Literary reading in educational contexts: emotions, mental imagery, socio-cognition.

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Published

24-07-2024 — Updated on 02-08-2024

How to Cite

Abraham, L. E. (2024). Emotions of war, but in the theatre: A case of theatrical expectation. Boletín GEC, (33), 235–262. https://doi.org/10.48162/rev.43.061