Nelson Rodrigues and modern tragedy

Rabelo Adriano de Paula

DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2024-1-141-148

Information About Author:

Adriano de Paula Rabelo, Associate Professor in Brazilian and Latin American Studies at the Institute of International Relations / Superior School of Foreign Languages and Translation / Department of European Languages and Cultures, Kazan Federal University (ul. Martina Mezhlauka, 3/45, Educational Building 31, Kazan, Tatarstan, Russian Federation, 420111). E-mail: aprabelo@hotmail.com

Brazilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues is the author of a very peculiar dramatic work, whose main characteristics are related to a poetics of the excess and a modernization of tragedy. There are two trends in his works: one that is closer to universal and mythical aspects of life, and another one that is closer to the historical and daily aspects. His own life was full of tragic events which made him feel that tragedy is a dimension that intrinsically belongs to humanity’s trajectory in this world. So the tragic sense of life was part of his world view and his philosophical conceptions. It was then natural that this tragic world view would be present in his literary creation at the several genres he explored, especially in his dramatic works. But his tragic approach is always mixed with melodramatic events and an excess of feelings, actions, and the grotesque, so that it frequently becomes comic at the same time. Nelson Rodrigues was influenced by both the high fine literature of the Western tradition and the subliterature of the beginning of the 20th century, and his mixture of them together makes up an original and very interesting creation. This paper fundamentally approaches the tragic as belonging to the playwright’s life — as well as his world vision — and also belonging to the works of Rodrigues by analyzing events in his, his readings, the opera and cinema techniques he was familiar with in order to reflect about their influences on his work, as well as to discuss formal aspects and subjects that make it possible to consider his dramatic works as belonging to the tradition of tragedy at the same time that he subvert and recreates the tragic standards in his own fashion.

Keywords: Nelson Rodrigues, tragedy, tragic

References:

1. Rabello A. P. O Teatro Trágico Moderno: Eugene O’Neill e Nelson Rodrigues. Düsseldorf: Novas Edições Acadêmicas, 2017.

2. Mafaldi S. Nelson Rodrigues: Dramaturgia e Encenações. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 1992. Pр. 66–67.

3. Frye N. “Modos da Ficção Trágica” e “O Mythos do Outono: A Tragédia”. In: Anatomia da Crítica. São Paulo: Cultrix, 1973. Рp. 42–49, 203–219.

4. Castro R. O Anjo Pornográfico: A Vida de Nelson Rodrigues. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1992. Рр. 29–30.

5. Rodrigues N. “Teatro Desagradável”. In: Dionysos. Rio de Janeiro: SNT/MEC, nо. 1, October 1949, рр. 16–21.

6. Romilly J. La Tragédie Grecque. Paris: Presse Universitaire de France, 2014. 204 p.

7. Aristotele. Poética. Porto Alegre: Globo, 1966. 232 p.

8. Nietzsche F. O Nascimento da Tragédia. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1993. 184 p.

9. Baldry H. C. The Greek Tragic Theatre. New York/London: W.W. Norton & Co., 1972.

10. Кириленко Н. Н. Диалог в классической трагедии и комедии (специфика жанра). In: Новый филологический вестник. 2014. № 4 (31). С. 34–48.

11. Rabello A. P. “Édipo e Noronha: Um Mito do Esplendor à Sarjeta”. In: Pitágoras 500, Campinas, SP, vol. 8, no. 2 [15], рp. 88–96, jul./dez. 2018.

12. Brooks C. Tragic Themes in Western Literature. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1955. Рp. 156–157.

13. Benjamin W. “Drama Barroco e Tragédia”. In: Origem do Drama Barroco Alemão. São Paulo: Brasiliense, 1984. Рр. 43–112.

14. Кондрашова А.В. Представления о смерти в античных трагедиях (на примере трагедий Еврипида). В книге: Неделя науки 2022. Сборник тезисов: в двух частях. 2022. С. 557–560.

15. YU I. Sun-Li. Nelson Rodrigues: A Study in Brazilian Theatre. Master’s degree dissertation, Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Washington: University of Washington, 1965. 327 p.

16. Bledsoe R. L. The Expressionism of Nelson Rodrigues: A Revolution in Brazilian Drama. PhD. thesis. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1971. 312 p.

17. Magaldi S. (Organization, introduction and notes). Teatro Completo. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Aguilar, 1994. 1135 p.

18. Rodrigues N. A Menina Sem Estrela: Memórias. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1999. P. 79.

19. Rordrigues S. Nelson Rodrigues, Meu Irmão. Rio de Janeiro: José Olympio, 1986. 234 p.

20. George D. Nelson Rodrigues and the Invention of Brazilian Drama. Lawrence, KS: LATR Books, 2009. рр. 84–86.

21. Lins R. L. O Teatro de Nelson Rodrigues: Uma Realidade em Agonia. Rio de Janeiro: Francisco Alves, 1979. P. 102.

22. Rodrigues N. Author’s testimony. In: Depoimentos V. Rio de Janeiro: SNT/MEC, 1981. Рр. 110–135.

23. Fischer L. A. “O Indivíduo Contra a Massa: Nelson Rodrigues Trágico”. In: Filosofia e Literatura: O Trágico. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2001. Рр. 87–101.

( 423.44 kB ) ( 416.46 kB )

Issue: 1, 2024

Series of issue: Issue 1

Rubric: RUSSIAN AND WORLD LITERATURE

Pages: 141 — 148

Downloads: 266