Chilean Identity Performativity in Carmen Aguirre’s Chile Con Carne and The Refugee Hotel: Narrative Evidence of the Shortcomings of Canada’s Multiculturalism Discourse

Theatre, especially the alternative theatres of immigrant communities, can ask its audience to question social inequities and to seek socio-political change. In my MRP, I use Butler’s theory of performativity and Brechtian distanciation to analyze nuanced Chilean exilic identity depictions in Carmen Aguirre’s plays: Chile con Carne and The Refugee Hotel. I find that Aguirre’s politically engaged theatre functions as a visceral and compelling counter-narrative that challenges the dominant discourse of Canadian multiculturalism inclusivity. Ultimately, identity performativity, coupled with Brechtian techniques, allows Canadian audiences to understand the nuanced multiplicity and hybridity of Chilean-Canadian lived experiences as fundamentally Canadian narratives that belong, on their own terms, in a pluralistic Canadian society. Keywords: Chilean; Exile; Performativity; Identity; Intersectionality; Theatre; Multiculturalism Discourse.