In the Spotlight: "Imagining the Unpredictable"

Juan del Valle Rojas. Bachelor in Education (BA) and English Teaching (Certification) at the Catholic University of Temuco, Chile (2009). Master (MA) in Science Communication at the University of La Frontera, Chile (2016). I have published several papers on peer-reviewed academic journals (written in English and Spanish). I have participated in several national and international Conferences in Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Ecuador.

Regarding my PhD research, it is mainly focused on the transnational and interdisciplinary dimension on Communication, Power and Technology about José Ricardo Morales’s work (Spanish-Chilean playwright). The research title is: “Imagining the Unpredictable: Communication, Power and Technology on José Ricardo Morales’ Transnational Theatre”. Promotor: Prof. Pablo Valdivia Martin. Co-Promotor: Dr. Konstantin Mierau. This proposal combines my background in Communication Studies with my particular expertise of Morales’ work. My research seeks to innovate and relieve the main importance of the problematization of the communication processes and appropriation of power in Morales’ playwrights and essays.

José Ricardo Morales’ works deal with fundamental problems in the field of Communication and Social Science Studies. His major concern for the (im)possibility of communicating/representing the Other has led much of established criticism to label Morales’ legacy as absurd theatre. However, in his book José Ricardo Morales de mar a mar (2014) Professor Valdivia posits that Morales applied deconstructivity avant la lettre to his conception of the performance process. In his plays and essays, language, technology, communication and representation are highly problematized, becoming, in fact the central focus of his artistic endeavour. Morales anticipated the advent of Internet and digital media, nuclear technology, the dehumanization produced by the disjoint in the communication processes and the hyper-globalized world. Therefore, I see a clear and coherent development from my work on Intercultural Studies towards questions raised by Morales in his works that still require further interdisciplinary analysis. In spite of Morales’ transnational relevance, he has hitherto been excluded from research efforts departing from traditional notions such as national canon or national literature due to his exile condition.

My research will focus on three main objectives: (1) Problematize the notions of communication, power and technology in José Ricardo Morales’s transnational theatre; (2) Study the discursive elements in Morales’ writings in connection to the construction of alternative social and virtual imaginaries; (3) Revitalize Morales’ works in the context of the Globalization and political, cultural and economic challenges.

Juan del Valle Rojas