Dissertation

Brecht's reception in Brazil

Ellis, Lorena B

1992

Overview

The thesis analyses Bertolt Brecht's reception in Brazil and has as advisor Prof. Margret Herzfeld-Sander, a Brecht expert, and as primary reader Prof. Leslie Damasceno, a Brazilian Theater expert. The goal of this study is twofold: firstly, to establish the factors that led Brecht to become the most staged foreign author in the 1960s, and secondly, to show the importance of his work in the search for a national Brazilian theater. The approach chosen was to present a panoramic view, showing different trends of Brecht's reception worldwide, including the development of the \"New Latin American theater\" as basis for comparison with his reception in Brazil. The other 80% of the thesis are dedicated exclusively to Brazil. Starting with the Jesuit theater, it differentiates their didactic theater from Brecht's new appropriation of \"educational theater\". The study scans through the Brazilian theater history pointing out developments that prepare the ground for Brecht's reception, which began with the publication of a poem in 1942 and a dramatic reading in 1945. However, the first professional staging only took place in 1958 and the climax was reached in 1968. The consolidation of the military dictatorship in the same year was mainly responsible for the decline in the stagings of Brecht's plays. The decrease of censorship and regression in the Geisel administration (1974-1979) favored a second climax in 1978. Besides analyzing the staging of Brecht's plays, the study also demonstrates Brecht's influence on playwrights in creating new plays and new work methods, combining them with Brazilian popular theater forms, as well as the activities of four main theater groups (Arena, Oficina, CPC, Opiniao) instrumental in promoting his work. I reached the conclusion that a confluence of three main factors contributed to Brecht's reception in Brazil: namely the space prepared for Brecht's reception, the nature and ideology of Brecht's work, as well as the development of the theater groups concerned with socially engaged theater favored by a political instability. The research was based on books about Brazilian culture and theater, essays from various publications, clippings from magazines and newspapers, interviews and correspondence with people such as directors and/or teachers, currently involved in working with Brecht in Brazil.

• Publisher: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• Subject: Auden, W H (1907-1973) / Brecht, Bertolt (1898-1956) / Gay, John (1685-1732) / German literature / Germanic literature / Latin American literature / Theater
• ISBN: 9798207557786