Interlude between singing and the machine: music, and technique in the works of Mário de Andrade and Murilo Mendes

• Grant number: 24/04891-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: January 03, 2025
• End date: June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Brazilian Literature
• Principal Investigator: Eduardo Sterzi de Carvalho Júnior
• Grantee: Paola Resende Braga Garcia de Araújo
• Supervisor: Pedro Meira Monteiro
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Princeton University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/01490-0 - Interlude between song and machine: poetry, music and technique in the works of Mário de Andrade and Murilo Mendes, BP.DR

Abstract

This project focuses on the connection between literature and music in theworks of Mário de Andrade and Murilo Mendes. Its intention is to elucidate how twodistinct structures mediate this connection: traditional forms of oral cultures and theadvent of new technical media. We suppose that the works of these authors movebetween these different paradigms, isomorphizing not only the period of instabilitybetween past and future but also a way of behaving within these heterogeneous layers.Our aim, therefore, is to understand the conditions of poetic and musical production andreception, oscillating between the predominantly collective and public vocalized forms ofthe past and the recent production of writing - a private, solitary, and silent activity. Thisalso includes the possibility of solitary musical reception within the confines of one'shome. To demonstrate this hypothesis, we delve into critical readings of poetic works,music critiques published in periodicals, and biographical texts. Thus, we also propose toexplore the relationship between word and sound in the poets' self-images, especially intheir prose, from the perspective of failure in dedication to careers in music. In addition tothese formal inquiries, we will highlight some recurring themes linked to the issue, suchas allusions or dedications to classical composers, musical genres in poetry, carnival,sadness, and the obliteration of singing. Through this multifaceted approach, our aim isto understand some connections between literature and music, based on the themes ofsinging (or orality), the machine (or media), and fiction (or representation).