Theatre and abolition : the dramaturgy of Arthur Rocha

• Grant number: 16/03610-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2016
• End date: May 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Literature Theory
• Principal Investigator: Orna Messer Levin
• Grantee: Renata Romero Geraldes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 11/07342-9 - The transatlantic circulation of printed matter: the globalisation of culture in the 19th Century, AP.TEM

Abstract

This research is centered on the study of the dramaturgy of Arthur Rodrigues da Rocha (1859-1888) beyond the province of Rio Grande do Sul, focusing on the circulation and reception of plays from when he got involved with abolitionist ideals. Although being amongst intellectuals and artists of Rio Grande do Sul and known throughout the country, his work is not included in the History of Brazilian Theatre. Only child of a mulato involved with performing arts, he followed in his father's footsteps conciliating the life of a writer with one of an editor of important newspapers in his hometown. As a playwright he had an important role in the abolitionist movement taking part in cultural and abolitionist societies like the Sociedade Parthenon Litterario since the 1870's. His plays were enacted and published during the 19th century. Their success were mainly because of the performance made by Julieta dos Santos who went on tour to Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Pernambuco, Maranhão and Pará. This project intends to analyze the representation of black people in the novels O Filho Bastardo (1876), José (1878), Deus e Natureza (1882), A Filha da Escrava (1883) and Os Filhos da Viúva (1884), placing Arthur Rocha (1882) in the abolitionist repertoire of its time. The methodology in a cultural history perspective makes use of primary sources like catalogs of booklets, ads of theatrical spectacles and critics review published by the press. The objective of this work is to build the circumstances of creation, circulation and reception of the plays with antislavery content.

Academic Publications

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

GERALDES, Renata Romero. Theater and slavery: the abolitionist poetic in Arthur Rocha's dramaturgy. 2018. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem Campinas, SP.