Francisco Nieva and Postmodernist Theatre

Komla Aggor is Professor of Spanish at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio. A graduate of the University of Ghana, he received his doctorate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is author of Eros en la poesia de Miguel Hernandez and of numerous articles in the field of Hispanic Studies.

"In this excellent study we find a long-awaited discussion of postmodernism in modern Spanish theatre. Because of his provocative and pleasant style, Aggor's book will be useful both to the specialist who is already familiar with Nieva's plays and the discerning reader with an interest in the evolution of Spanish theatre as a whole." Montserrat Roser I Puig, University of Kent, Medieval Literature Review, 102.2, 2007A"Aggor provides smooth English translations for all of his critical citations and quotations from plays, thus making this book totally accessible to theatre specialists and other readers who may not have a command of Spanish. It is a near-definitive study of Francisco Nieva's theatre and one that must be considered essential bibliography for any meaningful course in which his plays are considered.A" Marion Peter Holt, Bulletin of Spanish Studies, Jan 2008

• Introduction: The Debate on Postmodernist Theatre. Chapter I - Postismo, Postmodernism, Theatre; From Postismo to Postmodernism; The Problematics of Spanish Theatre; Toward a Dramatic Theory. Chapter II - Cruelty and Paradox; Nieva and Artaud; The Paradox of Evil; The Paradox of Self-Transcendence; Aesthetic Composition and Doubling in Speech; A Celebration of Open Theatre. Chapter III - Metatheatricality; Metadrama as Dramatic Method; The Play within the Play; Ceremony within the Play. Chapter IV - Sexual Politics, Gender Politics and the Popular; Nieva and the Popular; The Politics of Sex; Denaturalizing Time; The Politics of Gender. Chapter V - Performance; A Sisyphean Trajectory; Performance and the Dramatic Text; Corazon de arpia on Stage; Las aventuras de Tirante el Blanco on Stage; Spectatorship.