Collective identity, transmediality and glocalization: A reading of Jisàs de Netzerit, by Pau Riba

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the redefinition of the cultural references included in the Catalan cultural repertoire, a repertoire conditioned by the main processes of mixture that affect contemporary cultures: transmedia exchange and glocalization. These processes are exemplified in a Pau Riba Christmas performance titled Jisàs de Netzerit o el capítol zero de la Guerra de les Galàxies, a quite unclassifiable show that combines traditional, biblical and consumer cultural references to generate a critical allegory about contemporary Catalan society. The article analyses the uses of parody and hybridization in Riba’s show to discuss how cultural communities survive only if they are capable of finding strategies for the plural reconstruction of what is recognized as cultural heritage.