Abstract

This thesis is about exploring behind the masks of personas engaged in performance. It is about contested intentions in cultural productions and intercultural communication in Diriamba, Nicaragua. The ethnographic encounter revolves around the production of El Gueguense (a culturally and socially charged ancient Nicaraguan Mestizo play) during Diriamba's patron saint celebrations. The significance of this thesis rests on two dominant issues concerning a socio/cultural analysis (national identity negotiation in Nicaragua) and an experiential/ethnographic one (a presentational ethnography). The presentation of events is offered in the presentational narrational form of theatre, through small scripted scenes.