Compañías de Negritos. Representaciones de “lo negro” en la escena teatral de Mérida durante las primeras décadas del siglo XX

The objective of this article is to identify the social representations around “blackness” that were present in the theater scene of Mérida, Yucatán, during the first decades of the 20th century, embodied in actors and actresses whose role was that of Negrito, the Black Professor or the Mulata. Likewise, such representations transcended the theater to also appear in stories of popular characters, carnivals and advertising. For these purposes, one of the main media of the time was consulted: the newspaper. By searching, compiling and analyzing these newspaper sources, images were found that circulated in different cultural spaces of the city, which is why the analysis of visual sources was essential.