Theaters and theatricality in Julio Cortazar's short stories

This dissertation analyzes different ways in which Julio Cortazar's work interacts with theater. It focuses mainly on "Las menades," "Instrucciones para John Howell," "La banda," "Las babas del diablo" and "Final del juego." In each short story a "manifest theatricality" (involving the distribution of theatrical roles among the story's characters) and a "surreptitious theatricality" (involving theatrical aspects present below the narrative surface) are examined. This latter variety of theatricality embodies a ritual, experimental and even dangerous dimension that undermines the boundaries between stage and orchestra, actors and audience, representation and reality.