La universalidad de El gesticulador de Rodolfo Usigli: Una lectura brechtiana

Abstract

In this article I consider Rodolfo Usigli’s El gesticulador using Brechtian theatrical theory to explain the Mexican author’s reference to clásico and the universality he attributes to his piece. El gesticulador can be understood as an example of man producing himself and his circumstances. As Brecht affirmed, “Man makes himself.” I will show that, like the German playwright, Usigli utilizes impersonification to isolate a particular form of crisis of history. This impersonification – here, of the general César Rubio – created by a history professor and expert in the Mexican Revolution, shows the audience class struggle, its contradictions and the necessity of social change. (AJS-V, Article in Spanish)