Use and semantics of Chernobyl at the contemporary ibero-american theater

Abstract

This article approaches the nuclear catastrophe occurred in Chernobyl on April 26, 1986. It will be analyzed, from an ideological and cultural point of view, the way in which the memory of the tragedy has been worked on into the Ibero-American Contemporary Theater. It should be noted that the time interval of the study will be limited exclusively to the works and theatrical productions carried out during the present century. Once these initial premises have been established, a specific study corpus will be identified. From here, both the common elements and the differential and specific codes of each of the selected cultural products will be formulated. This analysis will allow the extraction of pertinent keys through which to elaborate a detailed interpretation in reference to the conceptual spaces of use and semantics configured around the Chernobyl place name. It starts, then, from the hypothesis of the existence of a series of significant semes attached to the noun itself, which, over the years, has been expanding its semantic base, becoming a concept with which to work creatively for dramatic writing and for staging. In this sense, we must take into account that the image of Chernobyl, which passes from a purely historical and social sphere to a space constituted by cultural signs, does not maintain a unique or exclusive codification directed by any institution, but rather, seems to respond to psychological and emotional ingredients related to experiences derived from diverse artistic realities.