Event Title
Running from the Circus: Opposition and Identity among New Circus Artists in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Location
Parker-Reed, SSWAC
Start Date
1-5-2014 2:00 PM
End Date
1-5-2014 4:00 PM
Project Type
Presentation
Description
Since the resurgence of Argentine circus following the end of the military dictatorship in 1983, the city of Buenos Aires has experienced a transformation of the circus arts. Using theories of identity, exclusion, and public space, I explore in my thesis the factors present in the formation of identity of circus artists in the city. I primarily use the work of anthropologist Stuart Hall on the process of identity construction to inform my conclusions about the dialogic creation of identity through artists constructions of the Other. I draw on my fieldwork conducted by using semi-structured interviews and participant observation during the summer of 2013 to inform my research. I conclude that the opposition of the circus community and the Buenos Aires Polo Circo, an entity of the municipal government, presents a fundamental problem in the creation of programs for the circus community, and even the greater artistic community in the city because of its implications in democratization of arts and artistic citizenship.
Faculty Sponsor
Sahan Dissanayake
Sponsoring Department
Colby College. Economics Dept.
CLAS Field of Study
Social Sciences
Event Website
http://www.colby.edu/clas
ID
348
Running from the Circus: Opposition and Identity among New Circus Artists in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Parker-Reed, SSWAC
Since the resurgence of Argentine circus following the end of the military dictatorship in 1983, the city of Buenos Aires has experienced a transformation of the circus arts. Using theories of identity, exclusion, and public space, I explore in my thesis the factors present in the formation of identity of circus artists in the city. I primarily use the work of anthropologist Stuart Hall on the process of identity construction to inform my conclusions about the dialogic creation of identity through artists constructions of the Other. I draw on my fieldwork conducted by using semi-structured interviews and participant observation during the summer of 2013 to inform my research. I conclude that the opposition of the circus community and the Buenos Aires Polo Circo, an entity of the municipal government, presents a fundamental problem in the creation of programs for the circus community, and even the greater artistic community in the city because of its implications in democratization of arts and artistic citizenship.
https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2014/program/57