The Cuban Rafter Crisis on Stage: Humanizing the Experience of Refugees in María Irene Fornés’ Manual for a Desperate Crossing
The Cuban-born playwright María Irene Fornés (1930-2018) repeatedly dealt with migration in several plays throughout her long career in theater, sometimes presenting characters who were immigrants living in New York (Sarita) or resorting to correspondence between distant relatives separated in diffe...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2022-12-01
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| Series: | American, British and Canadian Studies Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2022-0019 |
| _version_ | 1811159219971293184 |
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| author | Crespán Araceli González |
| author_facet | Crespán Araceli González |
| author_sort | Crespán Araceli González |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Cuban-born playwright María Irene Fornés (1930-2018) repeatedly dealt with migration in several plays throughout her long career in theater, sometimes presenting characters who were immigrants living in New York (Sarita) or resorting to correspondence between distant relatives separated in different countries (La Viuda, Letters from Cuba). Manual for a Desperate Crossing was her response to the Cuban Rafter Crisis of the mid-1990s. The article analyzes how the playwright makes use of a combination of objective and subjective strategies to counteract the dehumanizing effect of media coverage, shifting the focus to the individuals who risked their lives in the perilous crossing of the Caribbean Sea in rickety rafts from Cuba to the Florida shores. The emphasis on the transit as a theme and the mixture of instructional, technical discourses with highly stylized stage design and different audiovisual media forces us to look in a different, immersive way that generates empathy towards the refugees. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:37:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0bf6b59c176e4994b0fc5ec390c1c8ee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1841-964X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T05:37:23Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | American, British and Canadian Studies Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-0bf6b59c176e4994b0fc5ec390c1c8ee2023-03-06T16:52:21ZengSciendoAmerican, British and Canadian Studies Journal1841-964X2022-12-0139110012010.2478/abcsj-2022-0019The Cuban Rafter Crisis on Stage: Humanizing the Experience of Refugees in María Irene Fornés’ Manual for a Desperate CrossingCrespán Araceli González0Universidade de Vigo, SpainThe Cuban-born playwright María Irene Fornés (1930-2018) repeatedly dealt with migration in several plays throughout her long career in theater, sometimes presenting characters who were immigrants living in New York (Sarita) or resorting to correspondence between distant relatives separated in different countries (La Viuda, Letters from Cuba). Manual for a Desperate Crossing was her response to the Cuban Rafter Crisis of the mid-1990s. The article analyzes how the playwright makes use of a combination of objective and subjective strategies to counteract the dehumanizing effect of media coverage, shifting the focus to the individuals who risked their lives in the perilous crossing of the Caribbean Sea in rickety rafts from Cuba to the Florida shores. The emphasis on the transit as a theme and the mixture of instructional, technical discourses with highly stylized stage design and different audiovisual media forces us to look in a different, immersive way that generates empathy towards the refugees.https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2022-0019maría irene fornésmanual for a desperate crossingcuban rafter crisisrefugeesmigrationbalserospalimpsest |
| spellingShingle | Crespán Araceli González The Cuban Rafter Crisis on Stage: Humanizing the Experience of Refugees in María Irene Fornés’ Manual for a Desperate Crossing American, British and Canadian Studies Journal maría irene fornés manual for a desperate crossing cuban rafter crisis refugees migration balseros palimpsest |
| title | The Cuban Rafter Crisis on Stage: Humanizing the Experience of Refugees in María Irene Fornés’ Manual for a Desperate Crossing |
| title_full | The Cuban Rafter Crisis on Stage: Humanizing the Experience of Refugees in María Irene Fornés’ Manual for a Desperate Crossing |
| title_fullStr | The Cuban Rafter Crisis on Stage: Humanizing the Experience of Refugees in María Irene Fornés’ Manual for a Desperate Crossing |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Cuban Rafter Crisis on Stage: Humanizing the Experience of Refugees in María Irene Fornés’ Manual for a Desperate Crossing |
| title_short | The Cuban Rafter Crisis on Stage: Humanizing the Experience of Refugees in María Irene Fornés’ Manual for a Desperate Crossing |
| title_sort | cuban rafter crisis on stage humanizing the experience of refugees in maria irene fornes manual for a desperate crossing |
| topic | maría irene fornés manual for a desperate crossing cuban rafter crisis refugees migration balseros palimpsest |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/abcsj-2022-0019 |
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