Abstract

¿Dónde están los Latinos? As a Latina theatre practitioner born and raised in Venezuela now studying Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) in the United States, I perceive a generalization and oversimplification of Latin American culture or culturally specific pieces across available TYA dramatic literature and other forms of children's entertainment, with Mexican culture as a monolith for all Hispanics and Latin Americans. My thesis asks: What tropes exist within the representation of Latin American cultures? What might those tropes offer about authentic representation, and opportunities for broadened representation, within the field of TYA? My research pulls from two formative experiences in my development as a TYA practitioner: serving as a co-playwright and the director of the new musical Sombra del Sol, and the release and success of Disney's animated film Encanto. I couple my analysis of these new works with the investigation of twenty plays within the United States' TYA canon by Hispanic authors such as Karen Zacarías, José Cruz González, José Casas, as well as non-Hispanic playwrights including Roxanne Schroeder-Arce, Lisa Loomer, and Gabriel Jason Dean. By examining these works, I identify five tropes present in media about/for Latin Americans: Location Tropes, Celebrations, Ethereality, Spontaneous Bilingualism, and Character Tropes. These trope help to articulate the need for richer cultural specificity and diversity of content in Latino/a TYA literature, while guiding my self-reflection as an artist and audience member in response to Sombra del Sol and Encanto.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2022

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Horn, Elizabeth

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

Theatre

Degree Program

Theatre; Theatre for Young Audiences

Identifier

CFE0009178; DP0026774

URL

https://purls.library.ucf.edu/go/DP0026774

Language

English

Release Date

August 2022

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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