The runaway mother-in-law: women, poetry and humour in Hecyra

• Grant number: 14/12723-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: October 01, 2014
• End date: May 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Classical Languages
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Isabella Tardin Cardoso
• Grantee: Aline da Silva Lazaro Bragion
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 15/00624-0 - The mother-in-law who flees: comedic women and their conflicts in Hecyra, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

This project aims to analyze the characterization of the female roles in Hecyra (The mother-in-law), an intriguing play by Terence (185-159 BC) that is not very much studied in Brazil. The present research follows a previous investigation (supported by FAPESP), in which translation and analysis of the initial parts of the play (namely of its prologues and first act) were accomplished. A closer reading of the way the prologues narrate the previous attempts of staging the play itself has led to a less verbatim reading of those passages. The analysis of the first scenes privileged the way central themes to the play are introduced: the conflicts between women and between genders, including sexual violence and misogyny. In order to observe the way such aspects are developed in the rest of the play, a complete commented translation will be done, with special attention to the Terentian poetic language, to the presence of metatheatre as well as of characters and situations pertaining to the repertoire of the fabula Palliata. My hypothesis is that such an attention may contribute to reveal unexpected laughable aspects in Hecyra. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

BRAGION, Aline da Silva Lazaro. The runaway mother-in-law: women, poetry and humour in Hecyra. 2016. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem Campinas, SP.