Abstract
Current essay, based on the concept of epic theater and on the relationship between literature and the process of historicity, studies the play Auto dos bons tratos (2002), by the Brazilian theater company Cia do Latao. The company is a representative group of a specific social-historic context, or rather, the renewal of the epic theater in Brazil. The theme of the play is the Brazilian Native's enslavement process in 1546 by the first grantee of Porto Seguro, who is characterized by the ethics of capitalist labor and becomes involved in an ideological dispute with the Church because he is against the Holy Days of Obligation. While in prison, he has a vision concerning cordiality that shows him the proper way to deal with his slaves and workers. By mentioning a real historic fact reported in the lawsuit filed by the Catholic Church against the grantee of the lands, the play revisits critically a significant event of Brazilian official history in such a way that it may be linked to Walter Benjamin´s historical materialism. In fact, the play reveals a specific historical moment within the implantation process of capitalism in Brazil and its consequences. Moreover, the theme is formally expressed by a critical appropriation of the ‘auto’ which also leads us to studies on the epic forms.
Highlights
Current essay, based on the concept of epic theater and on the relationship between literature and the process of historicity, studies the play Auto dos bons tratos (2002), by the Brazilian theater company Cia do Latão
Szondi (2001) explicita como esse projeto artístico que isola a arte do mundo material expressa os valores e a ideologia próprios da ascensão e da sedimentação da burguesia ao longo do século XIX, em páginas das mais relevantes para a compreensão da mediação entre arte e sociedade
E terminando pelo Prólogo no teatro da peça em questão – que remete ao Fausto de Goethe – ‘um elefante e um rinoceronte que duelam pelos caprichos de um rei’ ganham materialidade na disputa entre a coroa e a igreja pela exploração mais eficaz sob a batuta da ordem institucional irracional do capital, cabendo à plebe dos bichos a parte do massacre incondicional, dinâmica essa que só pode ser apreendida por uma peça despedaçada, cujo sentido se encontra justamente na construção da ruína, projeto no qual o anjo da história de Benjamin gostaria de se deter, se não o impedisse o ímpeto devastador da tempestade do progresso
Summary
Current essay, based on the concept of epic theater and on the relationship between literature and the process of historicity, studies the play Auto dos bons tratos (2002), by the Brazilian theater company Cia do Latão.
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