Phantasmagoria and History in the Theatre of Ricardo Monti and Ricardo Bartís

Abstract

Based on the Benjaminian concept of phantasmagoria, this article analyzes how history is presented in Ricardo Monti and Ricardo Bartís’s dramaturgy. These two artists, despite having different methods of production, share a similar interest in history as a phantasmagoric image that combines the past and the present on stage. While Monti recovers archetypal remains of Latin American mythology, Bartís builds a temporality made from the residues of Argentine culture. From his own context, each playwright confronts the dominant conception of history understood as progress through the Argentine theatrical system.