The Antimurga BCG: Revolution in the Post-dictatorship Montevideo carnival?

Abstract

This article analyzes the scenic trajectory of the Antimurga BCG in the post-dictatorship Montevideo carnival (1985-2001) through the sociological perspective of Pierre Bourdieu. It examines the paradox between the group's massive audience reception in the tablados and its systematic institutional marginalization in the official contest. In dialogue with Gustavo Remedi's theses on carnival theater and the testimonies of its director, Jorge Esmoris, it argues that the BCG carried out a "partial revolution with a diffuse legacy". Through a crossing of fields that transferred professional theatrical habitus into a space of traditional culture, the article holds that the group deconstructed classical murguistic poetics. This disruption included the elimination of the traditional percussion section, the incorporation of a mixed cast with women in leading roles, and avant-garde dramatic experimentation. The analysis demonstrates that their identity as "losers" was a conscious political strategy to invert traditional hierarchies of legitimation. Thus, institutional marginality became an emblem of popular authenticity whose aesthetic impact reconfigured, in a deferred manner, the performative language of successor groups such as Agarrate Catalina, La Mojigata, and Queso Magro between 2001 and 2020.