Matar a la patrona: mucamas en crisis y crisis de representación en Las arpías de José Manuel Freidel

Abstract

Abstract:Maids have been an important source of inspiration for the Latin American lettered elite, who havecrafted these characters not only to promote negative stereotypes about working women (often associating them with theft, dirt, prostitution, or treason), but alsotospeakabout the popular classes from the point of view of the so-called intellectuals. This article studies Las arpías (1981), Colombian José Manuel Freidel’s adaptation of Jean Genet’s The Maids, exploring his deliberate use of the maidas a rhetorical device. WhileFreidel’s versionconstructs aworking-classcharacter often associated with a type of theatre that promotes social critique, it is still part of abody of dramatic workthat ultimately dehumanizes working women. I examine Las arpías as a critique of the cultural tradition that seizes the voice of the “people” and argue thatthis work allows us to rethink Diana Taylor’s concept of “theater of crisis” to decolonize the ways of representing members of marginalized communities.