Moving borders: nomadic subjectivity and interstitial spaces within The Magdalena Project

thesis by Marisa Naspolini

Marisa Naspolini, the director of Vertices Brasil, has completed her doctoral thesis entitled Moving borders: nomadic subjectivity and interstitial spaces within The Magdalena Project – Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina.

The thesis investigates the occupation of interstitial spaces in the creation of artists connected to The Magdalena Project - international network of women in theatre - understanding that the dilution of borders between languages, between cultures, between genders and geographies has contributed to the creation of genuine and authorial works, permeated by an intense relationship with otherness. The notion of interstitial space, or in-between space, is discussed from various authors, fostering an interdisciplinary dialogue. The concept of nomadic subject, proposed by Italian philosopher Rosi Braidotti, is used as a notion that helps think through the in-between from a feminine subjectivity perspective. Throughout the text, works by artists connected to the network are presented in order to discuss and highlight these issues. In the third chapter a more thorough analysis of the creative process of the actresses/directors Jill Greenhalgh and Julia Varley is proposed in order to observe the procedures adopted in their path and what they generate at the scene. Aspects related to the form of network organization are also analyzed, as horizontality, decentering and displacement of borders in order to verify the hypothesis that the network phenomenon, while organizational system, reverberates in their members creation and also the opposite: issues involved in artistic creation, such as the use of hybrid languages and multiple identities, reverberate in and modify the network structure, in a continuous flow of mutual contamination.

It is written in Portuguese and will soon be available online.