Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies

Review
Author(s): Dianna Niebylski
Review by: Dianna Niebylski
Source: Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies, Vol. 8 (2004), pp. 251-252
Published by: Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Arizona
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20641719
Accessed: 23-06-2015 22:00 UTC

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Arizona Journal ofHispanic Cultural Studies 251

illustrate

ex
of sociocultural
heterogeneity
a
interwoven
collective mood
through

the

periences

thatplaces Latinos at crucial historicalmoments

in the sociopolitical history ofCalifornia. This
linguistic and literary edifice, reconstructed

throughmemory and resistance,highlights the

rich cultural legacy of the Latino community
inCalifornia. Although the diverse topics cho
sen

in these

sections

seem

dispersed,

the selec

tion of intergenerationalvoices of Chicanas/os

recreates

and Latinas/os

an

interdialogical

range

of narratives that brings to the forefrontissues

of race, ethnicityand gender, and their effects

on the formation of subjectivity,both in the
private and public realm. In summary, this an
to students
thologywill be of particular value
who

are

Latino

taking
literature.

an

course of U.S.
introductory
as
It is also a commendable

because
the vast selection
particularly
the
efforts
of Latinas/
of narratives
represents
os who
to recover
continue
their diverse
liter

piration,

ary heritage, as they articulate through their

their presence
literary discourses,
canon.
nant
literary

in the domi

prize-winning

Disappear

Madres de Plaza de Mayo has become a point

of referencefor anyone interested in political
Taylor's

newest

book

ap

proaches the political and epistemological rel

evance of public performance by examining a
wide

diversity

protests

and

of media
art-house

phenomena,
spectacles

"acts

of

transfer," where

is

is transferred

what

some form of meaning. Broadly, then, the

author's goal is to reflecton "themany ways in
which the archive and the repertoirework to
constitute and transmitsocial knowledge" (33).
More

nuanced

recent

than many

books

on performance theory,The Archive and the

Repertoire avoids facile binary oppositions be
tween the embodied practices of the repertoire

and thedisembodied (largelytext-based) legacy

of the archive. Taylor makes it clear that all
transmittedknowledge ismediated inmultiple
ways, but notes that the formswhich thisme

to examine

multivalent

performances

as "non-archivalsystem[s]of transfer,"
thebooks
first chapter notes both the interdisciplinarity

ingActs: Spectacle and Gender inArgentina dealt

with the gendered politics of performance in
Argentina during and following the decade of
book's chapter on the
the Dirty War?this

"performances."

Stoklos), The Archive and theRepertoire exam

ines the socio-political, historical and philo
sophical implications of performed vs. archival

necessary

The Archive and theRepertoire. Performing

Cultural Memory in theAmericas
Duke University Press, 2003
By Diana Taylor
Taylor's

ited and self-selectedaudiences (such as recent

performancesby border artistGuillermo Gomez
Pena orNew York-based Brazilian artistDenise

diation takes differwidely from one medium

to the other.Reflecting on the analytical tools

Anthony Nuno
California State University, Bakersfield

Diana

formances" (the eerily campy Latin psychic

Walter Mercado or theways inwhich minori
tiesmourned the death of PrincessDiana) and
performativerepertoiresintended formore lim

grass-roots
across
the

Americas. Addressing bothwidely popular "per

and the epistemological flexibilityrequired to

negotiate the ideological significance of any
After

performance.

convincingly

outlining

flexible and composite theoretical framework

by bringing togetherkey concepts fromBakh
tin, Pierre Nora,

de Certeau

and Derrida,

Tay

lorproceeds todemonstrate thedegree towhich

one
to "read"
the repertoire
makes
learning
more
in
functional
culturally
today's media
aware of the
us more
crazed world. As itmakes

differentrules and framework that control the

different"systemsof transfer"belonging to the
or

archive

the repertoire,

performance

studies

can provide us with new tools for examining

the

constitution,

cultural

and

continuity

rupture

traditions:

[b]y considering scenarios aswell as

narratives,

we

expand

our

ability

to

rigorously analyze the live and the

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of

252 Arizona Journal ofHispanic Cultural Studies

scripted,the citational practices that
characterizeboth, how traditionsget
constituted
ous

and

trajectories

the vari

contested,
and

Despite this criticism, I have good rea

son for
endorsingTaylor's book wholeheartedly,

influences

all

might appear in one but not the

other. (32-33)

odd

Whether or not one is interested in the

individual performances she discusses in indi
vidual chapters (I found some chaptersmuch

more engaging than others),Taylor's reflections

on thebroader need to consider the issues raised
by performance

theory

are a must

for anyone

interested in cultural criticism.Her claim that

the embodied repertoire can provide us with

alternativeways of viewing history and thehis

torical process is both intriguingand polemi

cal.The subtletywith which Taylor engages the

complexities involved in examining issues of
where

reception

intercultural

are

audiences

concerned ought to be a model for further

analysis on the subject.The book is itselfboth
a

and

performance

a contribution

to the archive.

The remarkablyeffective
way inwhich she com
bines personal storywith analytic reflection is
a
fittingdemonstration of the usefulness that
can

result from

ness

of one's

even

as one

discovery.

being

role as an observer
findings

contemporary

Among

of archival
cultural

crit

ics, only Susan Suleiman and Ruth Behar can

match

Taylor's

talent

for

using

only

notable

weakness,

personal

very

I think,

is its in

and
personal
provocative
intellectually
account
of a New
Yorker
witnessing

first-hand

the events immediately following 9/11) ad

dresses television coverage of the 9/11 incident,
on thewhole there is very littlediscussion of
how technology and the Internet are radically
changing theways inwhich performers per

form

and

audiences

respond

an e-mail

I received

coincidence,

remind

neral. As I watched myself glued to the cover

age

of the various

events,

news

and

talk shows

surrounding thefuneralforan ex-presidentwith

whose views I disagreed strongly,I kept replay

ingmany ofTaylor's observations and, what is

more, finding demonstrable proof of their ac
as I watched

In other words,

curacy.

the week

longperformance of public and privatemourn

ing, I realized thatmy ability to examine the
as both, more

events

and

multi-faceted

less self

evident than theymight appear on first sight,

was in
largepart a resultof justhaving reflected
on these issues
throughTaylor's convincing and
enlightening

arguments.

Dianna Niebylski
University ofKentucky

Issues

Queer

in

Latin

Contemporary

American

Cinema

University of Texas Press, 2003

By David William Foster

anec

sufficienttreatmentof the role that technology

and cyberspace play in any analysis of perfor
mance today.While the final
chapter (at once
a

the circumstances

of

ingme ofmy earlier promise towrite this re

view during theweek of President Reagan's fu

dote to enlightenher intellectualargument.The

book's

so because

an aware

to sustain

able

spatio-temporal
gets lost in the

the more

surroundingmy writing of this review.By some

that

to their
perfor

mances. Perhaps a book

dealing with these is
sues is already in the
offing forTaylor.

Regents'
ciplinary

Professor

Humanities,

of

Spanish,

Interdis

and Women's

Studies

at Arizona

State University, David William

Foster has published the following books:
Mexico City inContemporary
Mexican Cinema,

ContemporaryArgentine Cinema, Gender and

Society inContemporaryBrazilian Cinema, and
Sexual Textualities: Essays on Queer/ing Latin

American

Professor

Writing.

Foster

has

estab

lished himself as one of the leading scholars

in the field of Latin American Cinema and
Gay Studies. His
Contemporary
a new
poses

latest book, Queer Issues in

Latin
approach

American
to Latin

Cinema,
American

ema.

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pro
Cin