The sainete in Venezuela. Dictatorship and "democratic opening" in Rafael Guinand's Yo también soy candidato (1939)

  • José Leonardo Ontiveros Universidad Internacional de La Rioja
Keywords: One-acted farce, opening, democracy, motives, dictatorship

Abstract

The sainete is a fictional strategy that had a great boom during the first three decades of the twentieth century in Venezuela. It became the hegemonic theatrical canon and enjoyed many followers in a particularly eventful period such as the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez. The sainete is by definition a costumbrista work that does not seek political dialogue but rather to satirize vices and correct errors. Playwrights were careful not to question or satirize aspects that had to do with the government under penalty of ending up with their bones in jail. However, after the dictator's death in 1935, there was a political restructuring and opening that brought as a major change the congressional elections. Guinand writes the play and in it he reflects the political environment of that opening. In this work we will analyze this sainete with the purpose of establishing how and in what way Guinand transposes his vision of the world of this electoral process and in what way he parodies, questions and satirizes this event. In order to elucidate these aspects, we will analyze his work in the light of the theory of motives and strategies, and we will account for the possible aggressions suffered by the author. We will also comment on the possible scenic strategies used to configure its dramatic structure.

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Published
2022-07-06
How to Cite
Ontiveros J. L. (2022). The sainete in Venezuela. Dictatorship and "democratic opening" in Rafael Guinand’s Yo también soy candidato (1939). Talía. Revista de estudios teatrales, 4, 87-97. https://doi.org/10.5209/tret.79306