Abstract:

The goal of this dissertation was to investigate the correlation between Puerto Rican Spanish and Puerto Rican Theatre. Both aspects of the Puerto Rican culture have gone through a historical process that has created, transformed and shaped what we called today Puerto Rican Spanish and Theatre. The relation between Puerto Rico and the United State has an important role in the journey of these Puerto Rican cultural aspects. This dissertation consists of an analysis of ten theatre plays written from 1938 to 2002, by Puerto Rican and Nuyorican playwrights. Since this is a project that involves the analysis of two different disciplines, theatre and language, it has been necessary to approach the topic with a variety of theories as a framework. To analyze the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States we have used the theories of Albert Memmi, Umberto Eco, Yuri Lotman and Jorge Duany. In terms of theatre theories, we used the works of Juan Villegas and Paul Bouissac. Finally, to analyze the use and role of language by the playwrights we used applied linguistics as a tool.

This work is divided into six chapters in which the shock, resistance and linguistics negotiation of Puerto Rican theatre and Spanish over the covered period can be appreciated. Puerto Rican theatre has been an educational and entertaining forum as well as a way of expressing political disagreement. Through theatre, playwrights have been able to express their view point in relation to the political situation of the country. Puerto Rican theatre is also an art form in which linguistics changes in Puerto Rican Spanish can be traced along decades. Chapter one is a brief historical background that establishes language issues in Puerto Rico with special attention to the role of politics in languages in contact. Chapter two outlines a brief background of Puerto Rican theatre in the Island and in New York. Chapter three works with three theatre plays that belong to the so called "National Theatre". They cover the period of 1938 to 1968. In Chapter four we analyze three plays that cover the seventies and eighties and the so called "New Dramaturgy". Chapter five is an analysis of a play that serves as a connector between the other nine plays and the historical background. Finally, in Chapter six we work with three plays written in New York by Puerto Ricans and Nuyorican playwrights.