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RESEÑAS Aggor, Komla. Francisco Nieva and Postmodernist Theatre. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2006. 187 pp. The adjective “postmodernist” implies a considerable quantity of questions with regards to the murky relationship between postmodernity and postmodernism . Does postmodernist refer to the cultural paradigm of postmodernity? If so, how is postmodernity defined and is it considered to be a desirable social state or a negative one, a cultural period that has happened, one that has yet to happen, or one that may never happen? Or is postmodernist consistently the adjective form of postmodernism, with the latter defined as a form of cultural expression in the arts, architecture and other human endeavors, a form of expression with an aesthetic history, like classicism, romanticism, impressionism, etc., although no critical consensus exists as to its exact nature, or regarding its relationship to society at large? Komla Aggor’s study takes the latter tack, dealing with postmodernism rather than postmodernity, but it is good for readers of it to keep in mind postmodernism’s implications for a postmodern social condition , and to be mindful of the relationship of both concepts to Occidental modernism on the one hand, and to modernity on the other. Here too questions arise, such as what is the nature of Occidental modernism? What is its relationship to the aesthetic avant-garde? Is postmodernism something that comes after modernism, significantly different from it, or does postmodernism include Occidental modernism as a subset of its own expression of, and critique of, modernity? Aggor does provide answers to some of these questions, arguing that Occidental modernism and the avant-garde are synonymous for his purposes , and that postmodernism supercedes modernism, in this case in Francisco Nieva’s plays, written primarily from the 1950s through the 1970s, and in the scant performances of them, which occurred in the post-Franco period. Aggor’s approach is primarily formalistic. That is, he uses various traits of postmodernism , and a substantial quantity of quotes of other critics who have worked with it, as a lens and context to analyze representative elements of Nieva’s works. Aggor’s study is comprised of five chapters, dealing with: (1) postismo and postmodernism; (2) the influence of Artaud’s Theatre of Cruelty and 109 109-124 Reseñas copia 13/9/10 11:12 Página 109 Brecht’s distancing effect; (3) meta-theatre; (4) gender politics and the popular ; and (5) performance. Postismo was an ephemeral artistic phenomenon in Spain of the 1940s and early 1950s that consisted primarily of manifestos in literary journals which quickly provoked governmental censorship, in spite of the ostensibly apolitical nature of their content. Postismo is in essence an attempt to continue the aesthetic program of the ultraístas of the late teens and early twenties of the twentieth century, and to promote the type of expression celebrated by José Ortega y Gasset in his seminal essay “La deshumanización del arte.” Aggor argues that Nieva is a founding member of the postista group and he is its most important, long-duration representative. Aggor affirms that the postista aesthetics forms the core of Nieva’s artistic expression, and that postismo itself is an early manifestation of postmodernism. Aggor explores the relationship between Artaud’s dramatic theory and Nieva’s plays based on the ideas of paradox and cruelty, with the former understood as postmodern double-coding. That is, the analysis centers on the paradox of destructive theatrical elements, violence, pain and cruelty, as constituent ingredients in a creative process that affirms some aspect of humanity while subverting others. This process of destruction and regeneration also challenges reader/spectators with the postmodern consideration of the relative nature of social values and truths, as contingent, socially-constructed values that may be rejected, transformed or transcended in a radically shocking theatrical experience. Meta-theatre, comprised of plays within plays, plays about actors, and selfreferential dialogue about the theatricality of theatre, and about the theatricality of life, also provokes considerations of relativism. In this case, the relative proximity and unstable porosity between subjective experience, imagination, and dream on the one hand, with reality on the other, the latter itself a problematic , subjective concept. In addition, Nieva’s meta-theatrical plays...

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