Griselda Gambaro

Griselda Gambaro (born Buenos Aires, July 28, 1928) is a major Latin American playwright and novelist. [http://www.audiovideotecaba.gov.ar/areas/com_social/audiovideoteca/gambaro_bio_es.php]

Gambaro worked in accounting and business until she got married and, in her words, her husband 'emancipated' her. She wrote her first play at age 24, since then there have been over 30 further plays, as well as several novels.

Background

Gambaro's works paint a deformed and unnerving portrait of a tragic period in Argentine history. Starting with the military coup that ousted Juan Perón in 1955, these years were marked by an uneasy succession of military and constitutional regimes. Peron's return to power in 1973 was short-lived, and his death in 1974 unleashed a rash of political violence from left-wing guerilla groups and right-wing death squads. In 1976, the ruling military junta vowed to rid the country of 'subversion' and instigated the Dirty War, during which the army crushed both the guerrilla movements and its civilian opponents. Gambaro herself was forced to flee to Spain after her novel "Earning Death" ("Ganarse la Muerte", 1976), was banned as 'subversive, amoral, and harmful to the family', and later she received death threats. She was in exile from 1976-1983.

Work

Gambaro's nightmarish portrayals of abductions in "The Walls" ("Las Paredes", 1963) and fascist excesses in "The Camp" ("El Campo", 1967) grimly predicted the summary executions and torture which were to 'disappear' an estimated 30,000 Argentines. In "The Blunder" ("El Desatino", 1965) she exposes the passive compliance with which many accepted military repression. In later plays like "Antigona Furiosa" (1986), female characters take on more central roles and often take bold steps to resist patriarchal oppression. Gambaro's work mines a human propensity to victimise others, and is directly descended from the creole-grotesque dramatists of the 1920s. Gambaro's language is an extraordinary hybrid of Argentine slang, the encoded dialects of tyrannised people, and diverse cultural references: in her promenade play "Information for Foreigners" ("Informacion para Extranjeros", 1973), for example, she seamlessly interweaves porteno jokes with a lullaby from Lorca's "Blood Wedding," an account of Stanley Milgram's experiments on the human capacity for violence, and excerpts from "Othello."

Awards

Gambaro has received numerous literary and dramatic prizes including the Premio Kónex, the Premio Argentores, the Premio Fundación Di Tella and the Premio Academia Argentina de Letras. In 1982, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. [http://www.audiovideotecaba.gov.ar/areas/com_social/audiovideoteca/gambaro_bio_es.php]

Plays and novels

* Madrigal en ciudad". Narrative. Griselda Gambaro, Ed. Goyanarte, Buenos Aires, 1963.
* "El Desatino". Short Stories. Griselda Gambaro, Emecé Editores, Buenos Aires, 1965.
* "Una felicidad con menos pena". Novel. Griselda Gambaro, Ed. Sudamericana, Buenos Aires, 1967.
* "Nada que ver con otra historia". Novel. Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones Noé, Buenos Aires, 1972; 2da.edición, Torres Agüero Editor, Buenos Aires, 1987.
* "La cola mágica". Children's stories. Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1976.
* "Conversaciones con chicos. Sobre la sociedad, los padres, los afectos, la cultura". Griselda Gambaro, Timerman Editores, 1976;. Ediciones Siglo XX, 1983.
* "Ganarse la muerte". Novel. Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1976.
* "Dios no nos quiere contentos". Novela. Griselda Gambaro, Ed. Lumen, Barcelona, 1979.
* "Lo impenetrable". Novel. Griselda Gambaro, Torres Agüero Editor, Buenos Aires, 1984 y 1988.
* "Teatro 1". Plays. Volumen que incluye las obras "Real envido", "La malasangre" y "Del sol naciente". Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1997 (3ra. edición).
* "Teatro 2". Collection of plays: "Dar la vuelta", "Información para extranjeros", "Puesta en claro" y "Sucede lo que pasa". Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1995 (2da edición).
* "Teatro 3". Collection of plays: "Viaje de invierno", "Nosferatu", "Cuatro ejercicios para actrices", "Acuerdo para cambiar de casa","Sólo un aspecto", "La gracia", "El miedo", "El nombre", "El viaje a Bahía Blanca", "El despojamiento", "Decir sí" and "Antígona furiosa". Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1997 (3ra. edición).
* "Teatro 4". Collection of plays: "Las paredes", "El desatino", "Los siameses", "El campo" y "Nada que ver". Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1990 (2da edición).
* "Teatro 5". Collection of plays: "Efectos personales", "Desafiar al destino", "Morgan" and "Penas sin importancia". Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1991.
* "Teatro 6". Collection of plays: "Atando cabos", "La casa sin sosiego", "Es necesario entender un poco". Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 1996.
* "Después del día de fiesta". Novel. Griselda Gambaro, Editorial Seix Barral, Buenos Aires, 1994.
* "Saying Yes". Play. Griselda Gambaro, translated by Sebastian Doggart, Nick Hern Books, 1996
* "Lo mejor que se tiene". Short stories. Griselda Gambaro, Grupo Editorial Norma, 1997.
* "Escritos inocentes". Essays. Griselda Gambaro, Grupo Editorial Norma, Buenos Aires, 1999.
* "El mar que nos trajo". Novel. Griselda Gambaro, Editorial Norma, Buenos Aires, 2002.
* "Teatro (cinco piezas)". Plays. Griselda Gambaro, Grupo Editorial Norma, Buenos Aires, 2002.
* "Promesas y desvaríos". Novel. Griselda Gambaro, Grupo Editorial Norma, Buenos Aires, 2004.
* "Teatro 7". Plays: "No hay normales", "En la columna", "Pisar el palito", "Para llevarle a Rosita", "Cinco ejercicios para un actor" and "Almas". Griselda Gambaro, Ediciones de la Flor, Buenos Aires, 2004.

References

* "Poder, deseo y marginación, aproximaciones a la obra de Griselda Gambaro". Various authors, Puntosur, Buenos Aires, 1989.
* "Entre el desamparo y la esperanza. Una traducción filosófica a la estética de Griselda Gámbaro", Malena Lasala, Ed. Biblos, Buenos Aires, 1992.
* "Theatre of Crisis", Diana Taylor. The University Press of Kentucky, 1992.
* "El Neogrotesco Argentino", Ileana Azor Hernandez, Celcit, Cuba,1994.
* "Griselda Gambaro, Teatro de la Des-composición", Marta Contreras, Univ. de Concepción, Chile, 1994.
* "Argentinas de Rosas a Perón", María Gabriela Mizraje. Ed. Biblos, Buenos Aires, 1999.
* "Las máscaras de lo siniestro. El caso Gambaro", Liliana Mundani. Alción Editora, Córdoba, 2002.
* "El teatro latinoamericano en el siglo XX", C. Solorzano, Mexico 1964
* "Theater in Latin America", A Versenyi, 1992
* "Theatre of Crisis: Drama and Politics in Latin America", Diana Taylor, Kentucky, 1991
* "Latin American Plays", S. Doggart, Nick Hern Books, 1996

External links

* [http://www.autores.org.ar/Ggambaro/ Official Homepage of Griselda Gambaro] (Spanish)
* [http://www.alternativateatral.com/ficha_persona.asp?codigo_persona=786 Alternativa Teatral] (Spanish)
* [http://www.buenosaires.gov.ar/areas/com_social/audiovideoteca/gambaro_bio_es.php Audiovideoteca de Escritores de Buenos Aires] (Spanish)