FFLCH/USP

Revista dos Alunos de
Graduação da Área de Estudos
Linguísticos e Literários em Inglês
FFLCH/USP
Yawp
Editor responsável
Lindberg S. Campos Filho
Assistência editorial
Gislene Fernandes Soares
Edição e revisão
Caroline Guarda Francisco Dau
Gislene Fernandes Soares
Ingrid Puche
Jéssica Campos Oliveira
Jonathan Renan Silva Souza
Lilian De Carvalho
Marcela Prado Siqueira
Thaís Gomes Trindade
Capa e diagramação
Maria Lúcia Rigon
Prefácio
Profª Drª Maria Elisa Cevasco
Revista Yawp #7, ano 2013
Revista dos Alunos de Graduação da Área de Estudos
Linguísticos e Literários em Inglês – Fflch /Usp
Issn 1980-2862 // São Paulo – SP
Preface
I
was very glad when my students asked me to write this preface to Yawp, and this
for a number of reasons. I have always been an enthusiast of the project of a journal
produced by students to circulate their own intellectual production, and I think there
is a lot to celebrate in the continuity of the project. This is issue 7, a number that points
to consolidation and stability.
But I was particularly pleased to introduce an issue whose theme is “Politics is
everything and is everywhere”. When I was a “Letras” student, back in the 1970s, the
idea that politics and letters were inextricably intertwined was not on the agenda. By
and large, we still followed the principles laid out in the 1860s by the founder of literary
criticism Mathew Arnold, for whom culture was “sweetness and light, the study of perfection, of the best that has been thought and said in the world”. This idealized realm of
lofty human values was to be the province of the study of the humanities in general and
of literature in particular.
Arnold’s legacy was fundamental for the setting up, in 1917, under the aegis of
F.R. Leavis, of the most influential discipline in the humanities in Britain, Cambridge
English. The object of study was the canon of English literature, a selective tradition
promulgated by Leavis himself. The method of study, pioneered again by Leavis and by
I. A. Richards, close reading, clearly embodied the disjunction of culture and society
which is the hallmark of the discourse: one should read the words on the page, isolated from the social and historical contexts that shape their meaning and in which the
works acquire significance. The purpose of the discipline was to form minorities that
would keep up the tradition. In Leavis’s own words this is fundamental because: “Upon
1 F.R. Leavis.
this minority depends our power of profiting by the finest human experience of the
“Mass Civilization
past; they keep alive the subtlest and most perishable parts of the tradition. Upon them
depend the implicit standards that order the finer living of an age, the sense that this
and Minority
Culture”[1930].
Reprinted in
is worth more than that, this rather than that is the direction in which to go, that the
For Continuity.
center is here rather than there.”¹
Cambridge,
It is revealing that the definition is made in such vague terms; if you did not
understand what the unstated direction was, or where exactly the center was, it is your
Minority Press,
1933, p.40.
problem. You clearly do not belong to this minority. From Cambridge, this idealized notion of English was exported to many other countries in the West and became, as Terry
Eagleton puts it “the natural way of studying literature”². Implicit in this constructed
2 Terry Eagleton.
naturalness is one of the recurrent themes of the permanent crisis in the humanities:
Literary Theory.
how can an intellectual pursuit be socially relevant if it posits itself above social conflict
and validation? How can it combine a noble defense of human value with the belief that
Basil Blackwell,
England, 1983,
p.24.
only a minority can grasp it?
3
revista YAWP
3 Raymond
Williams. Towards
2000. (London,
1983), p.151.
It took the discipline a long time to
of communication. He saw those as pos-
arrive at the point in which it could begin to
sible facilitators for an opening up of the
give productive answers to those questions
possibilities for inverting the customary
and a students’s journal could confidently
flow of cultural goods, from a handful of
state that politics is everywhere. The 1960s
producers to a mass of consumers. He
saw a truly epidemic phase of conceptions
laid out the practical possibilities that
of culture and of literary criticism. In a
new technologies such as cable, and video
world in change, even university profes-
cameras could offer to emergent produc-
sors, those slow turtles, as a great critic puts
ers of culture. But he was also fully aware
it, had to revise their ways and methods.
that in order to achieve this extension, we
The way was open for people of my genera-
would have to choose “a different kind of
tion to link our political commitments and
economy and a different kind of society.”3
our intellectual and pedagogic work.
2010s, cannot say we have advanced much
the key contributions to this process of
in this respect. Even though we have de-
change was made by Raymond Williams,
constructed the opposition between high
whose thought and principles have been
and low culture, we are as far as ever from
very important in my personal process of
any notion of a common culture. On the
joining political and intellectual issues.
contrary, we have learned to fear it as if it
Born to a working class family, this
“Welsh European” (as he liked to define
could only mean a totalitarian homogenization of all difference and plurality.
himself) thinker set out to reclaim the con-
But of course, and contrary to
cept of culture for more democratic uses.
current fears of any form of community,
In his memorable formulation, culture is
except the ones marked by one single fea-
ordinary, it is a whole way of life. The poli-
ture, like sexual orientation or ethnical
tics that goes with this definition is not one
origin, a common culture need not be yet
of preservation or of elitist diffusion, but
another version of “more of the same”. If
one of extension. The method of reading
by “extending human and social knowl-
also changed, now we had to link culture
edge and critical possibility” we succeed-
and society in the very act of responding
ed in engaging the active participation
to a work of art, as literary form and so-
of all the members of a society, then we
cial formation are seen as “manifestation
should expect this democratized cultural
of the same impulse”. The reasons for
process to produce real plurality of values
studying Letters also change: the aim was
and life forms.
to interpret the world in order to change
It is to be hoped that “Letras” stu-
it. And culture would be paramount in this
dents who stary their academic life stat-
process of necessary change.
ing that politics is everywhere will be able
He was fully aware of the fact
that he was, and we still are, living at a
time of prodigious expansion of means
4
We, students and professors of the
And again I am glad that one of
to join in the struggle to achieve this new
democratic culture.
Maria Elisa Cevasco
Table of Contents
Literature
Challenging Patriarchy: Gender, Sex and Sexuality in Orlando and Maurice
By Lindberg S. Campos Filho........................................................................................................ xx
The American Social Exclusion Through The Space Element: A Compared
Analysis of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
By Bruno Pereira..................................................................................................................................
Pirate Grace – How American values, Capitalism and Brecht are developed in
Lars von Trier’s Dogville
By Olívia Fortes. ..................................................................................................................................
The Grey and the Green: Aspects of Escapism and Environment in the works
of J.R.R.Tolkien
By Eduardo B. Kumamoto. .................................................................................................................
The Demystification of the Figure of Genius and Sexist Stereotypes of Dominant Society in The Movie Deconstructing Harry by Woody Allen
By Amanda Souza. ................................................................................................................................
The Laughable Woman
By Juliana Cunha Mendonça.............................................................................................................
Luiz Ruffato and Aluísio Azevedo: A Socio-Comparison Between Um outro
mundo and O Cortiço
By Laysi Praxedes Nobre....................................................................................................................
Creative Works
Simply Forgiven
By Marcela Prado Siqueira...............................................................................................................
Compromisso
By Wanderley Corino Nunes Filho.................................................................................................
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Selected Poems
By Wanderley Corino Nunes Filho.................................................................................................
Sobre um Reino e uma Janela
By Alessandro Suenaga Wagner......................................................................................................
Translation
Between Verisimilitude and Identity: The Translation of Geographic References in Films for Children
By Thaís Gomes Trindade...................................................................................................................
Language and Education
Homeschooling: Why it Should be Considered
By Cintia Alves......................................................................................................................................
Learning American English: Difficulties in Pronunciation
By Caroline Guarda Francisco Dau. ...............................................................................................
Is There a Space for English Literature in Brazilian High School Curriculums?
By Jonathan Renan Silva Souza. ......................................................................................................
Literature
1 Undergraduate
student of English
Challenging patriarchy: Gender, Sex and
Sexuality in Orlando and Maurice
Lindberg S. Campos Filho1
at University of
Sao Paulo (USP),
email: lindberg.
[email protected]
Abstract: Our society is culturally and socially founded on patriarchal values
and ideologies that attribute certain roles and characteristics to people according to
their gender. This social dynamics creates and reproduces unequal power relations between women and men. In addition to that, patriarchy is structured so that it generates
hierarchies and evaluations of sexual behaviour that presuppose heterosexuality as the
natural order of things and, as a result, triggers a process of social marginalisation of
homosexuality. Although gender is clearly a process that only manifests socially, it is
arbitrarily determined and imposed by taking into consideration solely the biological
sex. This biological determinism has severe psychological and social impacts on those
who cannot comply with neither the gender nor the sexuality that have been designed
for them. This essay analyses how two English twentieth-century novels challenge and
subvert preconceived notions of gender and sexuality. It examines Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A biography (1928) and E. M. Forster’s Maurice (1971), and demonstrates that both
novels are articulated in order to denounce and deconstruct patriarchal structures,
which culturally regulate and police human gender and sexuality. These novels are
carefully read in the light of ideas of gender and sexuality developed in Judith Butler’s
Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990), Michel Foucault’s The History of Sexuality: An Introduction Vol. 1 (1978) and eminent critical works on both novels.
The conclusion provides the reader with a brief summary of the main discussions about
the two novels and the aspects that approximate them.
Keywords: Virginia Woolf, E. M. Forster, patriarchy, gender politics, sexuality
She remembered how, as a young man, she had insisted that women must be obedient,
chaste, scented, and exquisitely apparelled. ‘Now I shall have to pay in my own person for
those desires,’ she reflected; ‘for women are not (judging by my own short experience of the
sex) obedient, chaste, scented, and exquisitely apparelled by nature.
Virginia Woolf
His family, his position in society – they had been nothing to him for years. He was an
outlaw in disguise. Perhaps among those who took to the greenwood in old time there had
been two men like himself – two. At times he entertained the dream. Two men can defy
the world.
E. M. Forster
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Introduction
tions. Human sexuality and gender have
eeling intrigued and puzzled by read-
F
relations between men and women. It is
ing ‘She remembered how, as a young
not hard to find examples of this commit-
man, she’ and ‘there had been two men
ment not only in the Bloomsbury Group,
like himself [...] Two men can defy the
but also in turn-of-the-century works
world’ is inevitable, for both excerpts
such as The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and
violate well-established gender and sex-
Mr. Hyde (1886), The Picture of Dorian Gray
ual norms. These quotations illustrate
(1890), Tess of the D’Urbervilles (1891), Jude
how modern literature challenges values
the Obscure (1895), Ulysses (1922), Mrs. Dal-
and beliefs, which are normally taken
loway (1925) and To The Lighthouse (1927).
for granted and serve as social laws. The
These novels were challenging patriarchy
modern artist will look at stable institu-
either by denouncing the corruption of
tions such as family, religion, social class,
a society ruled by men, by questioning
colonialism, identity, gender and sexual-
traditional notions of masculinity, by
ity, and start questioning them through
portraying a world without the bourgeois
artistic experimentation and innovation
model of family, by deconstructing the
in terms of not only themes, but also and
apparent innate chastity, purity and pas-
especially of form and style.
sivity normally attributed to women, or
This commitment to innovation
and subversion is intimately related to
8
been used to establish unequal power
by portraying women in a more profound
and privileged way.
the collapse of how individuals see and
The rise and consolidation of the
deal with such social structures whose
industrial phase of capitalism in late eigh-
main function is to bring stability to re-
teenth and early nineteenth centuries led
lations of dominance within society. One
to the development of an urban order and
of the social constraints to which modern
to the necessity of creating social control
literature pays particular attention and
devices by the English ruling class. This
attacks is patriarchy. As Terry Eagleton
urban context, on the one hand, sophis-
astutely observes ‘[Virginia Woolf and
ticated state persecution of homosexuals
her contemporaries] lived in an age when
and other social minorities through the
it was too late for Victorian paternalism
Labouchere Amendment 1885 that made
and still somewhat early for socialist de-
gross indecency a crime in the United
mocracy’ (Eagleton, 2005, p. 309), which
Kingdom and the creation of the Metro-
reinforces the idea that even though the
politan Police in 1829, but, on the other
Bloomsbury Group was not particularly
hand, created the necessary conditions
interested in the radical break with the
for the proliferation of urban gay subcul-
capitalist social order, they were deter-
tures (Carlin, 1989, pp. 13 – 19). It was the
mined to denounce and break with patri-
age of prosecutions and convictions of
archal and paternalistic structures that
homosexuals for acts of gross indecency
constrained and regulated social rela-
from Oscar Wilde in 1889 to Alan Turing
literature
in 1952. The first was sentenced to two
homosexual themed novel Maurice was
years of hard labour, and the latter to
only published posthumously, it is also a
chemical castration. In addition to that,
well-known fact that he had started writ-
it was in this period that Radclyffe Hall’s
ing it in 1913. The state persecutions and
lesbian novel The Well of Loneliness (1928)
his self-oppression might have prevented
was prohibited from being sold and that
him from publishing Maurice, but it is im-
some of Sigmund Freud’s writings about
possible to deny the fact that he was using
innate female passivity gained immense
his art as a way of relieving his sexual and
popularity. However, it was also a time
psychological constraints. Essentially be-
of resistance with works such as Mar-
cause Maurice should be seen as a politi-
cel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past
cal work, which supports the fight against
(1913 – 1927), which openly narrates and
social constructions of sexuality and the
discusses homosexual relations; Simone
pathologization and marginalisation of
de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949), which
homosexuality.
strongly criticised many of Freud’s as-
This essay examines how patri-
sumptions on women’s nature; Virginia
archy is not only challenged, but also
Woolf’s works that challenged gender and
how its norms are subverted in Virgin-
sexual constructions; the rise and revival
ia Woolf’s Orlando and in E. M. Forster’s
of feminism with the Women’s Suffrage
Maurice. These two novels have been se-
Movement in the United Kingdom; and
lected because of their privileged context
the intellectual movement of some Ox-
of struggles for sexual transformations
ford intellectuals that used works by Pla-
and liberation, and also because they
to and other Hellenistic elements to dis-
provide us with a rich depiction of social
sociate homosexuality from pathological
constructions of sexuality and gender.
and medical views (Cramer, 2012, p. 193).
Firstly, we will verify how Woolf decon-
It was within this context of sex-
structs the naturalness and rigidity of
ual puritanism contestation and vivid
gender, and the way gender is commonly
political campaign for women’s liber-
used to control the self. Secondly, we will
ation that Virginia Woolf’s Orlando: A
analyse E. M. Forster’s depiction of the
biography (1928) and E. M. Forster’s Mau-
cultural process of constructing a mascu-
rice (1971) were written. Such works and
line identity that is fundamentally based
writers were not only influenced by this
on patriarchal notions of virility and het-
context, but also influential in the social
erosexuality, and his strong criticism of
transformations that were occurring at
English society. Finally, the conclusion
that moment. Virginia Woolf’s writings
will present the main aspects that approx-
were profoundly shaped by her explicit
imate the novels in terms of theme, style,
feminist politics, concern and fascination
format and engagement with criticism of
with gender identities and with wom-
patriarchal ideologies.
en’s lives, histories and fictions (Marcus,
2012, p. 142). Even though E. M. Forster’s
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Orlando
O
to plod, without looking to right or left,
I
n 9 October 1927, only a few months
But now we come to an episode which
before the publication of Orlando,
lies right across our path, so that there
Virginia Woolf wrote in one of her letters
is no ignoring it. Yet it is dark, mysteri-
to Vita Sackville-West ‘It sprung upon me
ous, and undocumented; so that there
how I could revolutionise biography in a
is no explaining it. Volumes might be
night’ (DeSalvo and Leaska, 2004, p. 75).
written in interpretation of it;
This statement suggests that in a certain
way the main theme, the format and the
style of Orlando were being articulated to
reach one of its author’s main objectives,
which was to revolutionise biography.
Woolf wanted to revolutionise and subvert one of the most popular, traditional
and prestigious literary genres at that
time: the biography. It can be said that she
successfully accomplished such objective
by writing Orlando, for even though it is
commonly referred as a novel, it is less a
novel than a kind of parody of the classic way of writing biographies. It can be
called a parody or an anti-biography, for
it does not only tell the story of a fictional
character, but also because it has innumerable passages, in which the narrator,
and at the same time biographer, reflects
upon his difficulties in writing. These
comments make the reader start thinking about the impossibilities of writing a
biography:
The biographer is now faced with a
difficulty which it is better perhaps to
confess than to gloss over. Up to this
point in telling the story of Orlando’s
life, documents, both private and historical, have made it possible to fulfil
the first duty of a biographer, which is
10
in the indelible footprints of truth;...
(Woolf, 2008, p. 63)
Woolf mixes up long-established
biographical techniques such as the use
of photos, documents and real historical
facts to give background and context to
the narrative with her modernist style
and writing inventiveness in order to blur
the boundaries of the biographical text
and the novel itself. This commitment to
subvert biography can be read as a way
of deconstructing the false sensation that
many people have whilst reading a biography, which is the sensation that one will
be given access to what the biographee
was really like simply by reading a book
that is, in practice, a collection of interpretations of documents. In other words,
Orlando shows biography’s incapability
of telling its readers about the individual
identity of the person, firstly because it
suggests that it is impossible to restrict
one’s identity to documents. In Woolf’s
view, identity is not something easily accessible, neither perfectly stable, on the
contrary, modernism shows us that individual identity is something much more
unstable, fragmented and is frequently
shaped by bigger forces, for example,
politics, economics, culture and religion,
which are beyond the individual’s control.
Secondly, because the very notion of iden-
literature
tity is a way of reducing the individual to
not the biography itself, but the relation
something social stable and intelligible.
people establish with it instead. Biography readers are led to believe that they
It is, indeed, highly unfortunate, and
are reading the indisputable truth about
much to be regretted that at this stage
one’s life, whilst they are in fact learning
of Orlando’s career, when he played a
fragments of one’s life that were inter-
most important part in the public life
preted and very likely intensified or omit-
of his country, we have least informa-
ted by the biographer. Essentially Woolf is
tion to go upon. [...] But the revolution
showing that the distance that separates
which broke out during his period of
biographies from fiction are not so big,
office, and the fire which followed,
and, most importantly, not so clear as we
have so damaged or destroyed all those
are led to think. Furthermore, the biog-
papers from which any trustworthy
raphee’s characteristics that are usually
record could be drawn, that what can
taken for granted by people, such as gen-
give is lamentably incomplete. Often
der and sexuality, are in fact very unclear.
the paper was scorched a deep brown
It is very ironic that even though one can
in the middle of the most important
read Orlando’s biography entirely, one
sentence. Just when we thought to elu-
will not be so sure about one of the most
cidate a secret that has puzzled histo-
basic human characteristics, which is Or-
rians for a hundred years, there was a
lando’s gender. For this reason, it is possi-
hole in the manuscript big enough to
ble to say that Virginia Woolf articulates
put your finger through. We have done
theme and format, for she deliberately
our best to piece out a meagre summa-
links the instability of identity, which is
ry from the charred fragments that re-
restricted by the traditional biography
main; but often it has been necessary
with the instability of gender, which is re-
to speculate, to surmise, and even to
stricted by biological sex. It can be easily
use the imagination.
proved by paying particular attention to
(Woolf, 2008, p. 115)
Woolf’s depiction of Orlando as a character with a free-floating gender and nebu-
In this passage the biographer ad-
lous sexuality, and her deconstruction of
mits that documents are not irrefutable,
biography’s universal and unquestion-
they require interpretation and also that
able truth character.
the biographer needs to ‘speculate’ and
even to ‘use the imagination’. Although
the passage above clearly and strongly
mocks biographical conventions, Orlando should not be read merely as a protest
against biography, but against the lim-
I
II
n Orlando, Woolf does not only narrate
the process of fabricating a masculine
identity based on the protagonist’s innate
itations it imposes on people’s identity
sex, but also the collapse of such identity
and personality instead. The problem is
by parodying the randomness of biologi-
11
revista YAWP
cal determinism and its consequences in
This passage can be viewed as an il-
shaping one’s gender. For, Orlando is in-
lustration of Judith Butler’s line of reason-
troduced to the reader as a young noble-
ing, which says that ‘the presumption of
man who was playing with a sword as a
a binary gender system implicitly retains
typical boyish behaviour: ‘[Orlando] was
the belief in a mimetic relation of gender
in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor
to sex whereby gender mirrors sex or is
which swung from the rafters’ (p. 13),
otherwise restricted by it’ (Butler, 1999, p.
and, as the novel develops, he suddenly
10), for Orlando clearly perceives that her
becomes a woman: ‘Orlando had become
nature and personality traits have been
a woman – there is no denying it. But in
limited by her gender. Orlando’s biologi-
every other respect, Orlando remained
cal sex was used to determine her gender,
precisely as he had been’ (p. 133). It is fun-
which also determined the type of clothes
damentally important to highlight that he
she would wear, the education she would
‘remained precisely’ the same, because it
have, what her nature would be like, the
is crucial to the deconstruction process of
way she would experiment her sexuality
the naturalness of genders’s binary divi-
and the boundaries of her own individual
sion and, consequently, the social practic-
identity as a whole.
es naturally attributed to them, for Orlan-
Moreover, Orlando does not only
do is able to compare how he was taught
cleverly understand that her idea of the
to look and classify women when he was
nature of women was arbitrarily con-
a man with how he truly feels now that he
structed and taught to her, but also she
is a woman. This process is particularly
learnt that the perspectives women had
evident when she has her first experienc-
in society and the way they were treated
es with her new sex in the company of the
were quite different from men’s. Woolf
captain in the ship going back to England.
was aware of women’s inferior position
She realises that the preconceived ideas
in society and this is the reason why she
she had of the nature of women were bad-
uses Orlando to show the contradictions
ly inaccurate:
of preconceived ideas of gender, for when
Orlando becomes a woman, she loses all
She remembered how, as a young man,
social privileges attributed to her former
she had insisted that women must be
gender, nonetheless, at the same time,
obedient, chaste, scented, and exqui-
she is now able to talk about gender dis-
sitely apparelled. ‘Now I shall have to
crepancies taking into consideration both
pay in my own person for those de-
points of view.
sires,’ she reflected; ‘for women are not
(judging by my own short experience
‘And that’s the last oath I shall ever be
of the sex) obedient, chaste, scented,
able to swear,’ she thought, ‘once I set
and exquisitely apparelled by nature.
foot on English soil. And I shall never
(Woolf, 2008, p. 150)
be able to crack a man over the head,
or tell him he lies in his teeth, or draw
12
literature
my sword and run him through the
of English society, which becomes more
body, or sit among my peers, or wear
fierce and direct in her A Room of One’s
a coronet, or walk in procession, or
Own (1929) published one year later. There
sentence a man to death, or lead an
are other examples in the novel, in which
army, or prance down Whitehall on a
the author denounces women’s political
charger, or wear seventy-two different
and social inferiority in English society,
medals on my breast. All I can do, once
for instance, when Orlando goes back to
I set foot on English soil, is to pour out
England and discovers that she is being
tea and ask my lords how they like it.
sued, for women cannot hold any prop-
D’you take sugar? D’you take cream?’
erty, and in the nineteenth century when
And mincing out the words, she was
she realises that she needs to have a hus-
horrified to perceive how low an opin-
band to fit in with the society. As Orlando
ion she was forming of the other sex,
learns, women are immensely dependent
the manly, to which it had once her
on men, taught to be chaste, scented, ap-
pride to belong.
parelled and to serve tea, whereas men
(Woolf, 2008, p. 151 – 152)
are the ones who can say what they truly
think and accomplish glorious military
Orlando’s observations about gen-
achievements. In this sense it is perfect-
der roles are fascinating, because she does
ly plausible to say that gender is used to
not only simply see what is left for wom-
create and reproduce unequal power re-
en in English society, but also critically
lations between men and women, which
compares women’s position with men’s. It
are the very basis of patriarchy.
is significant to point out that the military
examples present in this passage can be
easily connected with historical processes
that are usually used to explain women’s
oppression. One of the typical arguments
to explain the consolidation of patriarchy
III
A
fter getting tired of spending time
with Alexander Pope in the eigh-
teenth century, Orlando goes to her
is precisely the militarization process that
house and starts taking advantages of
many primitive western societies under-
her free-floating gender by switching gen-
went and were hardly reconcilable with
ders and enjoying the lack of restrictions
women’s reproduction work. Such social
that this condition provided her with. As
dynamics was fundamental for the con-
the narrator describes, Orlando has no
finement of women in the domestic work
difficulty in switching genders and such
and men’s privileged position in the pub-
facility can be seen as an unusual and
lic sphere of patriarchal societies (Carlin,
profound instability in the usually fixed
1989, p. 5; Leacock, 1981, pp. 33 – 194).
notion of gender.
It is also noteworthy that in a
certain way Woolf is anticipating her
Then she rose, turned , and went into
criticism of the patriarchal organization
the house, where she sought her bed-
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room and locked the door. Now she
deed—the deed is everything.” In an ap-
opened a cupboard in which hung
plication that Nietzsche himself would
still many of the clothes she had worn
not have anticipated or condoned, we
as a young man of fashion, and from
might state as a corollary: There is no
among them she chose a black velvet
gender identity behind the expressions
suit richly trimmed with Venetian
of gender; that identity is performative-
lace. It was a little out of fashion, in-
ly constituted by the very “expressions”
deed, but it fitted her to perfection and
that are said to be its results.
(Butler, 1999, p. 33)
dressed in it she looked the very figure
of a noble Lord. She took a turn or two
before the mirror to make sure that her
As Judith Butler affirms, gender
petticoats had not lost her freedom of
cannot be seen as an immutable deter-
her legs, and then let herself secretly
ministic social category in which we are
out of doors.
classified according to our ‘natural sex’.
(Woolf, 2008, pp. 205-206)
On the contrary, gender is a constant process based much less on biology than on
Orlando’s facility for alternating
social practices. Although Orlando had
genders does not only drastically mini-
her sex changed, nothing else changed,
mise the importance of the biological sex
neither in terms of personality nor fea-
to determine gender, but also indicates
tures. Due to the fact that Orlando lived as
that gender is more a group of cultural ac-
a nobleman for most of her life, she does
tions and behaviour than an immutable
not find very difficult to perform both gen-
and biological characteristic. Orlando
ders. Orlando is a woman only whilst she
breaks free from the gender constraints,
behaves or dresses as a woman and she is
experiments her sexuality freely and live
a man whenever she acts as a man. Such
her life at will. Woolf denounces the artifi-
flexibility makes us see the very notion of
ciality of gender by showing that, in prac-
‘being a gender’ as an inaccurate one, for
tice, Orlando’s gender depends less on her
if Orlando were a gender it would not be
sex than on her clothes.
possible for her to be any other gender at
will. Therefore, the gender is not within
In this sense, gender is always a doing,
her, it is in the clothes, behaviour, and in
though not a doing by a subject who
her social and sexual practices. Thus gen-
might be said to preexist the deed. The
der should be seen more as an action than
challenge for rethinking gender cat-
a being or less as a ‘noun’ than as a ‘verb’.
egories outside of the metaphysics of
substance will have to consider the relevance of Nietzsche’s claim in On the Genealogy of Morals that “there is no ‘being’
behind doing, effecting, becoming; ‘the
doer’ is merely a fiction added to the
14
B
IV
y examining the novel, we can quickly perceive that Orlando is not the
only character, whose gender is uncertain
literature
and unstable. Sasha, the Russian princess,
that certain clothes might generate, as it
is presented to the reader as an extremely
can be seen in the opening of the novel:
androgynous figure, for not even Orlando
‘He – for there could be no doubt of his
is capable of easily saying whether she is a
sex, though the fashion of the time did
boy or a woman when they first met:
something to disguise it’ (p. 13). Rachel
Bowlby points out that ‘here the denial
a figure, which, whether boy’s or wom-
of the doubt is just what lets in the doubt,
an’s [...] The person, whatever the name
by saying what it says needs no saying.’
or sex [...] When the boy, for alas, a boy
(Bowlby, 2008, p. 37). Another illustration
it must be – no woman could skate
of gender indeterminacy is the scene that
with such speed [...] but no boy ever had
Orlando is leaving the gipsy communi-
a mouth like that; no boy had those
ty, in which she remarks that ‘the gipsy
breasts [...] She was a woman.
women, except in one or two important
(Woolf, 2008, pp. 36-37)
particulars, differ very little from the
gipsy men.’ (p. 147). All these examples of
Another example is the Archduch-
gender ambiguity can be read as proofs
ess Harriet who confesses to Orlando
that gender should be seen more as social
upon her arrival in London that she is ac-
decisions than something innate to the
tually a he. Archduke Harry cross-dressed
human being (Bowlby, 2008, p. 40).
in order to seduce Orlando when he was a
man and now that Orlando is a woman he
To what extent do regulatory prac-
is finally capable of letting Orlando know
tices of gender formation and divi-
the truth.
sion constitute identity, the internal
coherence of the subject, indeed, the
In short, they acted the parts of man
self-identical status of the person? To
and woman for ten minutes with great
what extent is “identity” a normative
vigour and then fell into natural dis-
ideal rather than a descriptive feature
course. The Archduchess (but she must
of experience? And how do the regula-
in future be known as the Archduke)
tory practices that govern gender also
told his story – that she was a man and
govern culturally intelligible notions
always had been one; that he had seen
of identity? In other words, the “coher-
a portrait of Orlando and fallen hope-
ence” and “continuity” of “the person”
lessly in love with him; that to compass
are not logical or analytic features of
his ends, he had dressed as a woman
personhood, but, rather, socially insti-
and lodged at the Baker’s shop;
tuted and maintained norms of intel-
(Woolf, 2008, p. 171)
ligibility. Inasmuch as “identity” is assured through the stabilizing concepts
It is also worth mentioning that
of sex, gender, and sexuality, the very
Woolf constantly draws the reader’s at-
notion of “the person” is called into
tention to the sex indeterminacy effect
question by the cultural emergence of
15
revista YAWP
those “incoherent” or “discontinuous”
cially because, she does not only depict the
gendered beings who appear to be per-
impossibility of confining one’s individual
sons but who fail to conform to the
identity to the boundaries of biography
gendered norms of cultural intelligibil-
and one’s gender and sexuality to a bina-
ity by which persons are defined.
ry division, but also demonstrates that the
(Butler, 1990, p. 23)
‘social intelligibility’ these things aim at
are in fact ways of controlling, reducing
As Butler points out, gender and
and restricting the self.
sexuality are concepts that stabilise identity and makes it social intelligible. Vir-
For it is probable that when people talk
ginia Woolf is not interested in reproduc-
aloud, the selves (of which there may
ing the mechanical ways of representing
be more than two thousand) are con-
the self that have been used by traditional
scious of disseverment, and are trying
biographies. She is more concerned with
to communicate, but when communi-
the fragments, failures and mutability of
cation is established they fall silent.
the self that might not be very intelligi-
(Woolf, 2008, p. 299)
ble and extremely hard to be interpreted
or understood. It is possible to say that
Woolf revolutionised biography because,
if on the one hand, one of biography’s
main objectives is to provide the reader
with a rounded, stable and seductive access to one’s individuality. On the other
16
Maurice
E
I
. M. Forster finished writing Maurice
in 1914, however it was only pub-
lished posthumously in 1971. It is of great
hand, even though one reads all her Or-
importance to highlight that Maurice is a
lando, one will be barely capable of telling
novel without antecedents and its main
if Orlando is a man or a woman, hetero-
theme was very avant-garde for the ear-
sexual or homosexual.
ly twentieth century, not only because it
Although Virginia Woolf did not
explicitly portrays homosexual relation-
believe in literature as a simple, practical,
ships without pathologising them, but
and, most importantly, mere way of con-
also because it has a happy ending, which
veying political ideas, her Orlando does
was very rare during that period and
challenge patriarchy, for it defies one of
suggests a positive view of homosexuali-
the most fundamental ideologies that sup-
ty (Leavitt, 2005, pp. 11-13). Furthermore,
ports patriarchal practices, which is gen-
at that moment, homosexual relations,
der. She subverts gender by deconstruct-
either privately or publicly, were consid-
ing its commonsensical naturalness and
ered acts of gross indecency and criminal
by exploring its arbitrariness and insta-
punishable through the 1885 Labouchere
bility. Besides, Woolf connects her gender
Amendment, which was revoked only in
criticism with her biography experimen-
1967. It is not a very surprising context,
tation in order to revolutionise both. Espe-
for the early twentieth century was vastly
literature
influenced by the Victorian period, which
ishment was rarely used in the eigh-
is known for having been very conserva-
teenth century, the murder of a plas-
tive, puritan and, above all, patriarchal
terer during a vicious pillory against
particularly in terms of sexuality.
him and his partner, a coachman, in
Despite the fact that neither capi-
1780 was a warning of the kind of bru-
talism nor Victorianism inaugurate sex-
tality that could be meted out and a
ual and gender oppression, it is possible
precursor to a very bloody period from
to affirm that there was an intensification
the late eighteenth century into the
and sophistication of conservatism in Vic-
nineteenth century in which persecu-
torian society. It can be argued that some
tion of same sex acts was intensified.
(Dee, 2010, p. 35)
of the reasons for this ideological dissemination of puritanism was due to the fact
that the emergent urban industrial cities
For the English ruling class, ho-
in England were seen as highly dangerous
mosexual relations represented a threat
by the new and old English ruling class.
to immensely important institutions,
Not only because of the geographical and
ideologies and norms that brought so-
temporal proximity to the French Revo-
cial stability, for instance, the nuclear
lution, but also and especially due to the
family, monogamy, chastity, virility and
terrible working conditions of the early
heterosexuality. As a result, homosexual
industrial phase of capitalism in the eigh-
relations were extremely marginalised
teenth and nineteenth century, which cul-
because they did not only disobey those
minated in many riots. In times like these,
patriarchal rules, but also challenged
the nuclear family is usually strength-
them. This is why E. M. Forster’s Maurice
ened and deviance and rebellious be-
can be viewed as an attack on patriarchy,
haviour is brutally repressed in order to
for it denounces the imposition and arti-
forge social stability (Carlin, 1989, pp. 12 –
ficiality of patriarchal masculine identity,
23; Dee, 2010, pp. 31 – 57; Trumbach, 1997).
the English society conservatism and the
This is the context of the 1885 Labouchere
severe social sanctions to those who defy
Amendment, which is constantly seen as
patriarchal norms.
a more efficient way of condemning homosexuality, for even though it was not as
drastic and severe as the death penalty, it
was much more comprehensive and easier to be executed.
F
orster
II
meticulously
depicts
the
process of cultural construction of
masculine identity, which is essentially
Throughout the eighteenth century
heterosexist. By showing patriarchal mas-
sodomy remained punishable by death
culine identity as something constructed
and continued to be referred to as
instead of innate, Forster is preparing the
‘the abominable and detestable crime
reader for an alternative way of exper-
against nature’. Although capital pun-
imenting sexuality, which is not in line
17
revista YAWP
with the one that is socially prescribed.
day through the premise that it is the real
Additionally, the happy ending of the nov-
nature of men. Forster draws the reader’s
el indicates Forster’s opinion that it is pos-
attention to certain moments of Maurice’s
sible to be happy without complying with
adolescence in order to show the artificial
a social prefabricated identity. Howard J.
process of fabricating masculine identity.
Booth provides us with an insightful com-
One of this moments is the opening of
ment that relates Maurice’s ending with
the novel, in which Mr. Ducie, a teacher
its main theme:
at Maurice’s school, is asking some questions to him and learns that Maurice did
Maurice does not look like a text of
not have significant male references in
modernist period in its positive, and
his life. As a result, Mr. Ducie ends up giv-
some might say ‘old-fashioned’, resolu-
ing Maurice a lesson in the secrets of sex
tion. However, the text can be seen as
between man and woman.
addressing self-formation in a way that
anticipates the era of ‘identity politics’.
‘Well you’re quite an ignorant little
(Booth, 2007, p. 176)
beggar.’ They laughed. After a pause he
said, ‘When I was your age, my father
Taking into consideration Booth’s
told me something that proved very
observation, Maurice can be read as
useful and helped me a good deal.’ This
novel about an Englishman’s search for
was untrue: his father had never told
identity, mainly because it shows its pro-
him anything. But he needed a prelude
tagonist’s psychological conflicts and re-
to what he was going to say [...]
luctance to fit in with a sexual identity
I am going to talk to you for a few mo-
that has been designed for him. In other
ments as if I were your father, Mau-
words, although Maurice Hall is obvious-
rice! [...]
ly attracted to the same sex, he cannot
You are becoming a man now, Maurice;
live his sexuality freely, for he is socially
that is why I am telling you about this.
sentenced to a compulsory heterosexual
It is not a thing that your mother can
life. As discussed above, this social and
tell you, and you should not mention
cultural condemnation happens due to
it to her nor to any lady, and if at your
the hegemonic cultural role that patriar-
next school boys mention it to you, just
chal structures played in early twentieth
shut them up; tell them you know.
century England.
(Forster, 2005, pp. 8-9)
Patriarchy is founded upon the
18
cultural construction of masculine iden-
The first thing to be considered is
tity, which is essentially composed of
Mr. Ducie’s emphasis on the necessity of
virility and heterosexuality (Badinter,
having a male figure in Maurice’s life; sec-
1992, p. 149). This patriarchal masculinity
ondly, his insistence that he is telling it be-
has been culturally and historically con-
cause Maurice does not have a father and
structed and is socially reproduced every
his mother cannot talk about it with him;
literature
thirdly, he says that other school boys
old man and I tell you that. Man that is
might know about it, possibly because
born of woman must go with woman if
their fathers told them. This dialogue has
the human race is to continue.’
an extremely patriarchal view of family,
Maurice stared after the housemaster’s
for it reinforces the supposed vital and ir-
wife, underwent a violent repulsion
replaceable importance of having a man
from her and blushed crimson: he had
in a family, and also makes it very clear
remembered Mr Ducie’s diagrams. A
that only men have the power to talk about
trouble – nothing as beautiful as a sor-
the unspeakable secrets of sex. It is worth
row – rose to the surface of his mind,
mentioning that Mr. Ducie’s authority is
displayed its ungainliness and sank. Its
very artificial and it is granted because of
precise nature he did not ask himself,
patriarchal social structures. He is social-
for his hour was not yet, but the hint
ly allowed to be a type of Maurice’s tem-
was appalling, and, hero though he was,
porary surrogate father in order to teach
he longed to be a little boy again, and
him how to reproduce heterosexuality.
to stroll half awake for ever by the co-
Furthermore, the artificiality of this au-
lourless sea. Dr Barry went on lecturing
thority and of this conversation as whole
him, and under the cover of a friendly
is denounced by Mr. Ducie’s inoffensive
manner said much that gave pain.
lie, which, in practice, functions as a way
(Forster, 2005, p. 21)
of making this kind of conversation more
natural than it really is. By the end of the
In this passage Dr. Barry, a doctor,
scene, we can see that Maurice is aware of
neighbour and friends with the Hall fami-
the instability of Mr. Ducie’s explanations
ly, explicitly and literally reminds Maurice
not only because they were written on the
of the nature of men’s sexuality. Ironical-
sand, but also because Maurice remarks
ly it is exactly Dr. Barry’s very necessity
that ‘Ducie is a ‘liar’, for ‘he worries that
of reminding Maurice of heterosexual
women will see the images, and a world of
sex naturalness that can make us suspect
hypocrisy, guilt, and complexity opens up
of its naturalness. In other words, if het-
that Ducie said he was removing’ (Booth,
erosexuality were the only natural order
2007, p. 179).
of things, as Dr. Barry states, it would
Later in the novel, Forster gives an-
not need to be remembered. Besides, this
other example of how heterosexuality is
scene is a turning point in the novel be-
socially imposed on Maurice:
cause it is in this part that Maurice begins
to become more aware of what is expect-
‘Oh, you young fellows! Butter wouldn’t
ed of him in terms of sex. He combines his
melt in your mouth these days. Don’t
two male references, Mr. Ducie and Dr.
know what I mean! Prudish of a petti-
Barry, and understands that in order for
coat! Be frank, man, be frank. You don’t
him to be accepted by those surrounding
take anyone in. The frank mind’s the
him, he needs to embrace heterosexuality,
pure mind. I’m a medical man and an
however the mere image of it makes him
19
revista YAWP
feel ‘repulsion’ and ‘pain’. In both scenes
scribes and goes beyond what he calls the
Forster is focusing on two stages of Mau-
repressive hypothesis that basically be-
rice’s growth in order to demonstrate and
lieved that there was a process of constant
denounce the social compulsoriness of
and brutal repression of human sexuali-
heterosexuality and its psychological con-
ty. Although Foucault admits that there
sequences for those who cannot conform
have been political and social forces that
to it. By the end of his adolescence, Mau-
had been repressing sexuality for centu-
rice realises that the process of formation
ries, he is more concerned with the pro-
of his own identity is not completely un-
cess of transforming sex into discourse.
der his control, but it is shaped by bigger
He observes that especially in the seven-
cultural, political and social forces that
teenth and eighteenth century there was
are beyond his control instead.
a proliferation of scientific, education-
Moreover, another aspect that ap-
al and even religious discourses on sex.
proximates both scenes of Maurice’s mas-
Essentially this process represented the
culinity formation is the transformation
establishment of a new series of power
of sex into discourse as a way of establish-
relations that were supported by the very
ing unequal power relations between him
secrecy of sex.
and those older men.
Mr. Ducie and Dr. Barry felt the
patriarchal necessity of “fixing” Maurice’s
The sex of children and adolescents
“broken” nuclear family, and their patri-
has become, since the eighteenth
archal male role in society provided them
century, an important area of con-
with the social privilege that is required
tention around which innumerable
to talk about sex. It is worth remarking
institutional devices and discursive
that the nuclear family is fundamental
strategies have been deployed. It may
for the reproduction of patriarchal and
well be true that adults and children
heterosexist ideologies and this is the rea-
themselves were deprived of a certain
son why the lack of a father figure impli-
way of speaking about sex, a mode that
cates a ‘broken’ family, for it is exactly the
disallowed as being too direct, crude,
father who is going to be the main, not the
or coarse. But this was only the coun-
only one, responsible for reproducing pa-
terpart of other discourses, and per-
triarchy. If we use Foucault’s observations
haps the condition necessary in order
to analyse these two scenes of Maurice, it
for them to function, discourses that
will be possible to say that Mr. Ducie and
were interlocking, hierarchized, and
Dr. Barry combine their patriarchal social
all highly articulated around a cluster
position with sex discourse to establish
of power relations.
unequal power relations with Maurice.
(Foucault, 1990, p. 30)
These power relations are essential to
make Maurice not only willing to accept
In The History of Sexuality: An
Introduction Vol. 1, Michel Foucault de-
20
social conventions, but also to make him
legitimise and reproduce them.
literature
Maurice also draws the reader’s at-
to homosexual, and finally Maurice’s re-
tention to the artificiality and collapse of
luctance to accept heterosexuality at all
this heterosexist education, for not only
costs. These reorientations should be read
Maurice rejects heterosexuality, but also
as a way of blurring the long-established
Clive Durham and Alec Scudder undergo
boundaries of sexuality and to attack the
a processes of sexual reorientation in the
naturalness of patriarchal and heterosex-
novel.
ist ideas of masculine identity.
He saw a gamekeeper dallying with
You prefer to be natural?
two of the maids, and felt a pang of
Sometimes. But it is such a very difficult
envy. The girls were damned ugly,
pose to keep up.
which the man wasn’t; somehow this
Oscar Wilde
made it worse.
(Forster, 2005, p. 146)
It is not a coincident that Forster
introduces Alec as heterosexual man,
for Alec’s apparent bisexuality is essen-
O
III
ne of the most important characteristics of Maurice is its engagement
with criticism of English society and West-
tial for Forster’s deconstruction of the
ern culture in general, which are strongly
naturalness of heterosexuality. Later in
influenced by patriarchal ideologies. This
the novel, Scudder tells Maurice that it is
social criticism can also be exemplified
‘natural to care for women’ and that he
by Clive Durham’s sexual reorientation,
has never had sexual relations with other
for it is commonly read as a way of show-
man before. Maurice questions Alec’s af-
ing how society can repress one’s feelings
firmation by saying that to care both for
and desires, particularly in terms of sexu-
women and men ‘isn’t natural for [him]’.
al practices, and by Maurice’s loneliness,
Alec was born in a patriarchal society and
psychological conflicts and attempt to be
has been exposed to all its patriarchal ide-
cured of his own homosexuality.
ologies, and for this reason, it is expected
First of all it needs to be said that
that he reproduces heterosexuality and
it is not possible to affirm without a shad-
sees it as the natural order of things. It is
ow of a doubt that Clive opted for getting
exactly his homosexual experience that
married and living a heterosexual life
makes him start questioning heterosex-
only because he was afraid of the social
ual sex as the only possibility. Forster is
sanctions he was subjected to if he had
not concerned with rigid binary defini-
embraced homosexuality. Basically be-
tions of sexuality, on the contrary, he de-
cause he clearly desired and wanted to
fies and subverts them by showing Clive’s
be desired by the opposite sex, which can
acceptance of homosexuality and later
be verified in Clive’s thoughts about his
change from homosexual to heterosexu-
nurse and women in general:
al; Alec’s reorientation from heterosexual
21
revista YAWP
He noticed how charming his nurse
‘into a world of delicious interchange’.
was and enjoyed obeying her. When he
When he goes to see a film, it pleases
went a drive his eyes rested on women.
him that ‘the man who made it, the
Little details, a hat, the way a skirt is
men and the women who looked on –
held, scent, laughter, the delicate walk
they knew, and he was one of them’.
(Leavitt, 2005, p. 17)
across mud – blended into a charming
whole, and it pleased him.
(Forster, 2005, p. 103)
For these reasons, it is perfectly possible to state that, regardless of Clive’s sex-
The narrator’s use of the verb ‘no-
ual orientation, his sexuality was strong-
ticed’ and Clive’s apparent rediscovery of
ly shaped by English social conventions
his own sexuality, whilst driving his car
that evaluate heterosexuality positively,
in the excerpt above, suggest that these
whereas marginalise homosexuality. This
sensations were not noticed or felt very
sexual instability suggests that perhaps if
often before. This whole part of the nov-
Clive had Virginia Woolf’s Orlando ability
el is carefully written in order to create a
to switch genders, he would be able to live
type of photograph of his reorientation
his sexuality to the full, for either women
and the new sensations that came with
or men would equally respond to his flir-
it. Nevertheless, the reasons that moti-
tations and he would not be socially nor
vated Clive’s supposed reorientation and
criminally punished, for he would be, at
the reorientation itself are debatable, for
least apparently, respecting the patriarchal
Forster’s descriptions of Clive’s feelings
boundaries of gender and sexuality.
are ambivalent and give the impression
Maurice’s
second
appointment
that he was not only seduced by women,
with Mr. Lasker Jones is another scene
but also by the social privileges that em-
that illustrates Forster’s commitment to
bracing heterosexuality could offer him.
denouncing English society conservatism:
Furthermore, this ambivalence can be
22
strongly felt if we take into account the
‘And what’s to happen to me? Said
less sexualised and more metaphorical
Maurice, with a sudden drop in his
tone of Clive’s brief sexual experiences,
voice. He spoke in despair, but Mr
and if we compare the much more sexual-
Lasker Jones had an answer to every
ised relationship between Alec and Mau-
question. ‘I’m afraid I can only advise
rice with the relationship between Clive
you to live in some country that has ad-
and Anne.
opted the Code Napoleon, he said.
In essence, what seduces him [Clive]
‘I don’t understand.’
is the system of ‘beautiful conven-
‘France or Italy, for instance. There ho-
tions’ that embraces him and Anne,
mosexuality is no longer criminal.’
his fiancée, once they announce their
‘You mean that a Frenchman could
engagement. Whereas men ‘had never
share with a friend and yet not go to
responded’, women now welcome him
prison?’
literature
‘Share? Do you mean unite? If both are
disorder. In fact the impossibility of cure,
of age and avoid public indecency, cer-
and Maurice and Alec’s happy ending in-
tainly.’
dicate that Maurice’s real problem was
‘Will the law ever be that in England?’
not homosexuality itself, but the way so-
‘I doubt it. England has always been
ciety dealt with it instead.
disinclined to accept human nature.’
This passage and the end of the
Maurice understood. He was an En-
novel clearly represent the massive social
glishman himself, and only his trou-
contradiction between the English patri-
bles had kept him awake. He smiled
archal dominant culture and the individ-
sadly. ‘It comes to this then: there al-
ual who defies it. Maurice Hall needs to
ways have been people like me and al-
break with English society in order to try
ways will be, and generally they have
to be happy and the price of doing that is
been persecuted.’
to renounce all his social class privileg-
(Forster, 2005, pp. 187-188)
es. Maurice’s ending can also be seen as
a fierce criticism of the hypocritical and
The passage above is preceded by
judgmental English society and dominant
Mr. Lasker Jones’ several unsuccessful at-
culture, for we should remember that by
tempts to hypnotise Maurice in order to
the end of the novel Maurice and Alec
cure him of his ‘congenital homosexuali-
abandon English society, but not England.
ty’. Mr. Lasker finally desists and suggests
that Maurice should live in a country
They must live outside class, without
where people like him are tolerated. This
relations or money; they must work
scene is immensely important due to the
and stick to each other till death. But
fact that it does not only openly criticise
England belonged to them. That, be-
English society’s reluctance to ‘accept hu-
sides companionship, was their re-
man nature’, but it also shows the limita-
ward. Her air and sky were theirs, not
tions and inefficiency of discourses and
the timorous millions’ who own stuffy
practices that pathologise homosexuality,
little boxes, but never their own souls.
above all, because it demonstrates that
(Forster, 2005, p. 212)
Maurice cannot be cured. Moreover, it is
fundamental to highlight that the association of ‘human nature’ with homosexuality and Maurice’s conclusion that ‘there
always have been people like [him] and always will be’ are elements that construct
Conclusion
I
t is not imprecise to say that Orlando: A
biography and Maurice are quite differ-
ent in many respects, particularly in form
an image of homosexuality as a natural
and style, nonetheless it is also true that
manifestation of human sexuality, for it
both novels have strong commitment to
contradicts early twentieth century En-
challenge and subvert patriarchal struc-
glish society commonsensical notions of
tures, which inevitably approximates
homosexuality as an abnormal mental
each other. Especially because both nov-
23
revista YAWP
els engage with the depiction and denun-
It is also of great importance to
ciation of the instability of traditional
state that both novels are carefully struc-
notions of gender and sexuality, which
tured in a such a way that they convey in
repress and confine the self to a prefab-
a very profound way the formation pro-
ricated identity. In Virginia Woolf’s novel
cesses of their protagonists, and their re-
we are exposed to characters whose gen-
luctance to accept social conventions of
der are difficult to be determined such as
gender and sexuality. Therefore, Orlando,
Orlando, Sasha, Archduke Harry and the
Maurice and Clive’s memories, impres-
gypsies, whereas in Forster’s work we are
sions and emotions should not only be
introduced to characters whose sexuality
considered constitutive components of
is free-floating: Clive Durham and Alec
the novels, but also elements as signifi-
Scudder, for instance. These indetermi-
cant to depict the characters’ psycholog-
nations do not only corroborate, but also
ical and identity conflicts as their actions,
demonstrate the collapse of the natural
particularly because they reveal a much
and immutable characteristics associated
less fixed and stable experience of gender
with patriarchal notions of gender and
and sexuality.
sexuality.
Besides Orlando: A biography as
Not only the conventions for repre-
well as Maurice can be viewed as critiques
senting character had changed for
of society and the social actors within it,
Woolf’s generation, but also the very
which are the ones responsible for repro-
concept of character and personality.
ducing unequal power relations between
The human personality was not one
genders and sexual hierarchisation. It
given fixed monolithic entity, but a
can be verified in Orlando’s reflections
shifting conglomerate of impressions
on women’s inferior position in English
and emotions. Psychoanalysis was un-
society and in Maurice’s observation of
covering a multi-layered self, in which
how much English society is hypocritical
dreams, memories, and fantasies were
for relying merely on appearances and
as important as actions and thoughts.
(Showalter, 2000, p. 18)
condemning people because of their unwillingness to conform to its conventions:
Finally I want to consider that OrWhile paying three guineas he caught
lando: A biography and Maurice are two
sight of himself in the glass behind the
early twentieth century works that antic-
counter. What a solid young citizen he
ipate the era of identity politics, for they
looked – quiet, honourable, prosper-
already questioned and destabilised pa-
ous without vulgarity. On such does
triarchal structures, which aim at reduc-
England rely. Was it conceivable that
ing the self to artificial, oppressing and
on Sunday last he had nearly assaulted
restrictive binary divisions of gender and
a boy?
sexuality.
(Forster, 2005, p. 134)
24
Y
literature
Bibliography
Badinter, Élisabeth. XY de L’identité Masculine. Paris, Odile Jacob, 1992.
Forster, Edward Morgan. Maurice.
London, Penguin Classics, 1971; 2005.
Booth, Howard J. Maurice. In
Hankins, Leslie. Orlando: “A Prec-
Bradshaw, D. (ed.) The Cambridge Compan-
ipice Marked V”: Between “A Miracle of
ion to. E. M. Forster. Cambridge, Cambridge
Discretion” and “Lovemaking Unbeliev-
University Press, 2007, pp. 173 -187.
able: Indiscretions Incredible.” In Barrett,
Bowlby, Rachel. “Introduction to
E and Cramer, P. (eds.) Virginia Woolf: Les-
Orlando: A Biography”. In: Woolf, V. Or-
bian Readings. New York, New York Uni-
lando: A Biograpy. Oxford and New York,
versity Press, 1997, pp. 180 – 202.
Oxford University Press, 2008, pp. 12 – 47.
Leacock, Eleanor Burke. Myths of
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Fem-
Male Dominance. New York, Haymarket
inism and the Subversion of identity. New
York and London, Routledge, 1990;1999.
Carlin, Norah. “The Roots of Gay
Oppression”. In: International Socialism
Books, 1981; 2008.
Leavitt, David. “Introduction”. In:
Forster, E. M. Maurice. London, Penguin
Classics, 2005.
Marcus, Laura. “Woolf’s feminism
Journal 42. London, Spring, 1989.
Cramer, Patricia. “Virginia Woolf
and feminism’s Woolf”. In: Sellers, S. (ed.)
and Sexuality”. In: Sellers, S (ed.) The Cam-
The Cambridge Companion to Virginia
bridge Companion to Virginia Woolf. Cam-
Woolf. Cambridge, Cambridge University
bridge, Cambridge University Press, 2010;
Press, 2010; 2012.
Showalter, Elaine. “Introduction”.
2012, pp. 180 – 196.
Dee, Hannah. The Red in the Rainbow: Sexuality, Socialism & LGBT Liberation.
London, Bookmarks publications, 2010.
In: Woolf, V. Mrs Dalloway. London: Penguin Modern Classics, 2000.
Trumbach, Randolph. “London’s
Leaska,
Sodomities: Homosexual Behaviour and
Mitchell A. (eds.) The Letters of Vita Sack-
Western Culture in the Eighteenth Centu-
ville-West and Virginia Woolf. New York,
ry”. In: Journal of Social History 11 (1), Ox-
Cleis Press, 2004.
ford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
DeSalvo,
Louise.
and
Dowling, Linda. Hellenism and Ho-
Wilde, Oscar. “An Ideal Husband”.
mosexuality in Victorian Oxford. New York,
In: The Collected Works of Oscar Wilde: The
Cornell University Press, 1994.
Plays, the Poems, the Stories and the Essays
Eagleton, Terry, The English Novel:
An Introduction. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 2005.
Foucault, Michel. The History of
Sexuality: An Introduction Volume 1. Trans.
including Des Profundis. Ware: Wordsworth, 1885, pp. 589 – 662.
Woolf, Virginia. Orlando: A Biography. Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press, 1928; 2008.
Robert Hurley. New York, Vintage books,
1978; 1990.
25
The American Social Exclusion Through
the Space Element: A Compared Analysis
of In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
1 Undergraduate
Bruno José Pereira1
student at
University of
Sao Paulo, email:
bruno.jose.
Abstract: The space feature is a useful element in the analysis of the social op-
[email protected]
pression in the North American society. Through Capote’s novel, it is possible to identify
some fixed structures of exclusion which have appeared in other canonic novels. The
recurrent usage of journeys and contingent spaces in these novels reveals a deep sense
of dissatisfaction in relation to the historical conditions and political relationships.
Keywords: Truman Capote, space, social class, American literature, exclusion.
Introduction
T
he novel In Cold Blood (1966) is mainly known for its non-fictional aspect. It is based
on a story of a murder, which takes place in the South of the United States. In
fact, the first impression caused on the concerning the book comes from this gossip
frame which gives consistency to the narration. In the first few lines, it is evident the
amount of description, which constitutes one of the main features. In different levels, it
is possible to identify details from the most diverse nature, conveyed by a third person
and omniscient narrator who seems to have access to all possible information. More
precisely, the reader can also notice that the space is constantly described throughout
the narrative.
Having said that, the purpose of this essay is to analyze, from a comparative perspective, the constitution and significance of such formal element and its importance
through the whole novel. Besides, it is vital to establish a connection between the question of space and the social relation between characters in order to clarify the reading
and interpretation. To substantiate the analysis, other three American novels will be
used in opportune moments: The adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), As I lay dying
(1930) and The grapes of wrath (1939).
Before starting the analysis itself, it is important to highlight some theoretical
points about space. In Espaço e romance (1985), Antonio Dimas argues that this technical
feature is not taken into account properly by critics, it has been neglected over the years.
In certain passage, he claims that one of the objectives of studying it is
ir-se descobrindo a funcionalidade e organicidade gradativamente, uma vez que o escritor
soube dissimulá-lo tão bem a ponto de harmonizar-se com os demais elementos narrativos, não lhe concedendo, portanto, nenhuma prioridade.
(Dimas, 1985, p. 6)
26
literature
Actually, the purpose of this analy-
On grounds of what has been stat-
sis is to point out this broader meaning of
ed, it is possible to adopt a more accurate
space in the novel and its relation with the
approach in terms of analysis. At first,
social frame rooted in the descriptions, in
the isolation of the city – place where the
order to establish ‘um quadro de significa-
actions are developed – is of paramount
dos mais complexos’ (Dimas, p. 20).
importance in the narrative. In addition,
The beginning of the novel is a
there is a sense of fixity in the constitu-
good example of how the category of
tion of Holcomb that seems to character-
space can be directly to the configura-
ize the town’s structure precisely. The jobs
tion of characters. Before narrating facts
carried out by the citizens are absolutely
themselves, the narrator resorts to a care-
determined, creating a sense of perma-
ful description of the small town of Hol-
nence in relation to old social structures:
comb ‘The village of Holcomb stands on
the high wheat plains of western Kansas,
The inhabitants of the village, num-
a lonesome area that other Kansans call
bering two hundred and seventy, were
out there’ (Capote, 2000, p. 21).
satisfied that this should be so, quite
As the narrative progresses, it is pos-
content to exist inside ordinary life - to
sible to notice that the isolation of the area
work, to hunt, to watch television, to
has resonance in the constitution of Hal-
attend school socials, choir practice,
comb’s citizens in a general sense. In his arti-
meetings of the 4-H Club.
(Capote, 2000, p. 23)
cle about Capote’s style, Ralph Voss indicates
such association, saying that ‘the opening
and closing lines of the book are often quot-
The intersection between the iso-
ed as evocative of the isolation of the area,
lation of the area and the pre-established
but the richness of detail in the opening pag-
functions of Holcomb citizens gives us a
es also evokes the people as well as the place’
sense of “normality” and demonstrates
(Voss, p. 74). Thus, the feeling of loneliness
the persistence of old social and ideolog-
is established through the element of space,
ical structures.
which confirms the theoretical approach of
In The adventures of Huckleber-
the part of Antonio Dimas, which consists of
ry Finn, the protagonist lives in similar
proving the novel’s organicism:
conditions. In the beginning of the first
chapter, the reader finds a boy in a home-
Não permitir que os componentes se
ly environment, living according to strict
mostrem gratuitos e soltos ao longo do
laws established by his aunt. The civilized
romance ou que ganhem valor por si
world of Miss Watson and her sister re-
mesmos, mas que de uma forma ou de
veals a sense of rigidity, based on religious
outra cobrem significado contextual e
and social contact orientation, which
abatam o potencial virtuosístico que
clearl worries and limits the freedom
toda descrição carrega dentro de si.
of action. The motivation of the journey
(Dimas, 1985, p. 42)
comes from this delimited sphere.
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revista YAWP
Coming back to Capote’s novel, it
bonuses; the men who worked for him
is interesting to pay attention to Clutter’s
- and there were sometimes as many as
description and configuration. The head
eighteen - had small reason to complain
of the family, Herbert Clutter, occupies
(Capote, 2000, p. 30)
a center position in this fixed world, a
consequence of his social position in the
This social consciousness - impos-
Holcomb society. This leadership is also
sible to be expanded in the context afore-
suggested in the description of his office.
mentioned – is carefully developed in The
grapes of wrath. The transitions of space
The office was fundamentally his re-
as a consequence of the Joad’s journey,
treat - an orderly sanctuary, paneled
which does not exist in the case of Hol-
in walnut veneer, where, surrounded
comb city at a first moment, allows these
by weather barometers, rain charts, a
characters to develop a social view that
pair of binoculars, he sat like a captain
they were not equipped with in the begin-
in his cabin.
ning. Tom and his relatives, enclosed in
(Capote, 2000, p. 40)
their low social position, adopt a different
world vision after the disintegration of
The rising social position of Mr.
the family. From this situation, it becomes
Clutter – especially important in the con-
possible to place the individualized char-
text of an isolated city – maximizes the
acters into a bigger structure.
crime previously described. In a certain
It is important to say that Herbert
passage, one resident of Holcomb ques-
Clutter is the only Clutter member able to
tions himself about justice.
leave the small city after the marriage of
his two daughters. However, the travels
How was it possible that such effort,
mentioned by the narrator are provoked
such plain virtue, could overnight be
by the demand of money, in order to main-
reduced to this - smoke, thinning as it
tain Clutter’s social position. Differently
rose and was received by the big, anni-
from the Joad family, Mr. Clutter does not
hilating sky.
acquire the same social consciousness as
(Capote, 2000, p. 111)
in Steinbeck’s novel. As well as the other
citizens in the context, the social differ-
Furthermore, the ignorance and
ences are ignored:
indifference of these citizens in relation
to people from other class is clear. Many
Without exception, Garden Citians
times, the posture adopted attempts to
deny that the population of the town
avoid the social tensions:
can be socially graded […] but, of
course, class distinctions are as clearly
he was known for his equanimity, his
observed, and as clearly observable, as
charitableness, and the fact that he paid
in any other human hive
good wages and distributed frequent
28
(Capote, 2000, p. 59)
literature
Another interesting detail in Clut-
take the murderers in an opposite per-
ter’s configuration is the figure of Nancy.
spective. Both Perry and Dick are char-
Suffering depressive mental disorders,
acterized through their constant move-
she develops an important function as
ment in the American territory. In a first
a spatially fixed character and demon-
approach, the characters are described
strates the instability in a structure that
as poor people, which are obliged to con-
seemed fixed and stable at a first moment.
stantly travel in order to survive:
Her social function in the husband’s absence causes insecurity,
the character
cannot execute the actions required.
until Mrs. Meier explained that the cats
were hunting for dead birds caught in
the vehicles’ engine grilles. Thereafter
(…)when her husband was off on one of
it pained him to watch their maneu-
his business journeys she was continu-
vers: ‘Because most of my life I’ve done
ally expected, in his absence, to supply
what they’re doing. The equivalent (...)
(Capote, 2000, p. 327)
snap judgments concerning the affairs
of the farm, and it was unendurable, a
torment. What if she made a mistake?
What if Herb should be displeased?
(Capote, 2000, p. 53)
In this case, the journey performed by Perry and Dick is provoked
triggered by their social condition, but its
aim is not only the need for better mate-
These individual and social con-
rial conditions. In this sense, the reasons
flicts are repressed by the order and sta-
are similar to the ones in As I lay dying.
bility brought in the city’s descriptions.
In such Faulkner’s novel, the social con-
These tensions are revealed when the
dition of the Brundrens is similar to the
crime disestablishes the superficial rela-
murderers’ in In cold blood, and there is
tion between the citizens. Consequently,
a mixture of interests among the charac-
the sphere of Holcomb is modified “An-
ters. Maria Irene Ramalho de Sousa San-
other reason, the simplest, the ugliest, was
tos argues that
that this hitherto peaceful congregation of
neighbors and old friends had suddenly to
No corpo morto de Addie, ou seja, na
endure the unique experience of distrust-
promessa feita à morta de lhe enterrar
ing each other” (p. 121). When the figure of
o corpo em Jefferson, se projetam os
the murderers Perry Smith and Richard
anseios das diferentes personagens do
Hickock appears, the conservative space
romance. O enterro de Addie é, assim, a
of the city is invaded “Or did, until, as she
viagem do mais secreto desejo de cada
complained, Clutter thing came along,”
um, realizado ou não”
bringing with it “all these out-of-towners,
(Santos, p. 168)
all this newspaper fuss” (p. 112).
Considering these commentaries
This way, Perry and Dick face sev-
about Clutter’s family, it is important to
eral obstacles during their lifes, and the
29
revista YAWP
journey becomes a consequence of their
cial position, which motivates his actions
loneliness, difficult material situation –
in the novel:
‘his lonely, mean life’ (p. 224) - and individual interests.
Moreover,
These feelings seem to be overcompen-
aforementioned
sated for by dreams of being rich and
journey seems to have a substantial sim-
the
powerful, a tendency to brag about
ilarity in relation to Twain and Steinbeck
his exploits, spending sprees when he
novels. In Huckleberry Finn, for example,
has money, and dissatisfaction with
there is a kind of desertion in relation to
only the normal slow advancement he
the society represented by Miss Watson.
could expect from his job
(Capote, 2000, p. 364)
The protagonist is in conflict with the society where he lives and the presence of
disbelief about the chances of transform-
These aspirations are present, in
ing the social spaceis made clear. Maria
a different level, when it comes to Perry’s
Irene argues that
configuration. However, his desires seem
to belong to another order and his lonely
trata-se de uma viagem que levará
childhood is an important factor to ex-
Huck do estabelecido, do cruel, da civ-
plain it. Perry develops a strong sense of
ilização de Miss Watson, de tudo o que
loneliness, which is evident in the contin-
reprime para o desconhecido, não civi-
uous descriptions of spaces occupied by
lizado, e que por ser novo é simultane-
the character. The end of the narrative,
amente excitante
for instance, is marked by his absolute
(Santos, p. 156)
isolation in the prison sphere ‘this establishment, officially called the Segregation
In The grapes of wrath, the family’s
condition requirres them to travel across
30
and Isolation Building, constitutes a prison inside a prison’ (p. 381).
the country and there is always an uto-
It is important to say that Perry’s
pian vision of a better place, represented
loneliness is also associated to his diffi-
in the image of a harmonic California.
cult social conditions. In a certain pas-
Throughout the narration, the family, as
sage, the character points out his family
well as the initial dream of finding an aus-
difficult situation, which caused them to
picious place to live, failed in many levels,
keep moving out ‘we were always what
but the characters can transform their as-
you would call semi-poor. Never down
pirations according to the developments
and out, but several times on the verge of
of facts.
it’ (p. 343)
Up to a certain extend Perry and
Another interesting topic in In cold
Dick carry the same discomforts towards
blood, also present in the other three nov-
the social environment and show hope
els, is the frustrated forms of resistance in
for change. In Dick’s case, the character
relation to the unequal social conditions.
evinces a desire for occupying a higher so-
In fact, the journey itself represents, in
literature
The grapes of wrath and Huckleberry Finn,
where he is serving a thirty-year sentence
an attempt to find a way of facing the op-
for armed robbery’ (p. 352).
pressive society and social needs. In As I
Furthermore, the element of space
lay dying, the motifs vary according to the
is an important element in the represen-
character and their individual point of
tation of these frustrated attempts of re-
view, represented by the fragmented as-
sistance. The utopian California in The
pect of the novel – including the space el-
grapes of wrath becomes a disappointed
ement. In every way, the reflections about
destiny; in Huckleberry Finn, the returns to
the contradictions of modernization and
Miss Watson’s house indicates a contrast
the permanence of social class tension
between a frustratedly-constructed soci-
work as a way of imposing resistance.
ety and continuous hope for a new Amer-
In Capote’s novel, this form of re-
ica of dreams; and the status of space in
sistance is present in the behavior of the
As I lay dying along with other formal el-
excluded characters, best represent by
ements, function as an incomprehensible
Perry and Dick. The attempt of stealing
and oppressive element of power, absorb-
is recurrent through the novel, which
ing and separating the characters from
reinforces the idea of resisting to the eco-
each other.
nomics system, in which they occupy a
In cold blood gives a similar sense
peripheral position. The crime described
of deception in relation to it. The absence
in a meticulous description also works in
of a place where the character can reach
the same way.
works as a symbol of their continuous
All that belonged to him, Dick, but he
and irreversible social position. The desti-
would never have it. Why should that
nation of the journey excludes the charac-
sonofabitch have everything, while he
ter in question as a social element.
had nothing? Why should that “bigshot bastard” have all the luck? With a
Anyway, he couldn’t see that he had
knife in his hand, he, Dick, had power
“a lot to live for.” (…) What was there
(Capote, 2000, p. 252)
to look forward to? He and Dick were
“running a race without a finish line”
However, In cold blood demon-
- that was how it struck him. And now,
strates how far the insoluble aspect of
after not quite a week in Miami, the
the economic environment can reach.
long ride was to resume. (…) So tomor-
The frustrated results of these attempts
row, with only twenty-seven dollars
are represented by Well. Upon denounc-
left of the money raised in Kansas City,
ing his colleague Dick, Well tries to solve
they were heading west again, to Texas,
his own financial problem. Nevertheless,
to Nevada - “nowhere definite.”
the oppressive and exclusionary social
(Capote, 2000, p. 254)
system keeps him in the same position
‘at present he is a resident of Mississippi
In this sense Maria Irene in her
State Prison in Parchman, Mississippi,
analysis of Huckleberry Finn, reveals that
31
revista YAWP
there is a ‘denúncia perfeita da contradição
ican society. The crime brought up by
entre a utopia e a ocupação sócio-econômi-
Truman Capote reveals a complex system
ca do espaço, entre a promessa do lugar e
of social exclusion and its consequent
os conflitos sociais de classe e raça’ (San-
repressive violence which, in a diverse
tos, p. 167). This thought seems to approxi-
and multifaceted way, has direct relation
mate the four novels and their usage of the
with the other three novels. The recurrent
element of space as a representation of the
usage of journeys and contingent spaces
frustrated form of resistance.
in these novels represents, in a broader
Overwall, in light of what has been
sense, a deep feeling of disappointment
analyzed, it is possible to affirm that the
in relation to society and also depicts an
element of space is crucial when it comes
operant system of social exclusion from
to the social conflicts of the north Amer-
which the characters try to escape in vain.
Y
Bibliography
Capote, Truman. In cold blood. New
americana.
Disponível
em
York: Penguin Twentieth-Century Classic,
<https://estudogeral.sib.uc.pt/bit-
2000.
stream/10316/11691/1/Lugares%20de%20
Castilho, Maria Teresa Lobo. Da
impossibilidade de “voltar” à América. Disponível em <http://ler.letras.up.pt/uploads/ficheiros/5179.pdf> Acesso em 4 de
julho de 2013.
Dimas, Antonio. Espaço e romance. São
Paulo: Série Princípios, Editora Ática, 1985.
Faulkner, William. As I lay dying.
London: Vintage Books, 1998.
Santos, Maria Irene Ramalho
de Sousa. Lugares de sentido na lite-
32
ratura
Sentido%20na%20Literatura%20Americana.pdf> Acesso em 4 de julho de 2013.
Steinback, John. The grapes of
wrath. New York: Penguin, 2011.
Twain, Mark. The adventures of
Huckleberry Finn. New York: Random
House, 1885.
Voss, Ralph F. “A legacy of style”
In: Truman Capote and the legacy of In Cold
Blood. Alabama: The University Alabama
Press, 2011.
Pirate Grace – How American Values,
Capitalism and Brecht are Developed in
Lars Von Trier’s Dogville
Olívia Bueno Silva Fortes¹
1 Olívia Fortes is
an undergraduate
student at the
University of São
Paulo. E-mail:
oliviabsfortes
@hotmail.com
Abstract: The present paper aims to study Lars von Trier’s 2003 film Dogville taking into consideration the criticism of American culture and capitalist values present
in the film, to observe how the two main characters are developed throughout the narrative, as well as to propose a comparison between von Trier’s film and Brecht’s poem
“Pirate Jenny”.
Keywords: Lars Von Trier, Dogville, Brecht, Capitalism.
Pirate Jenny – Seeräuber-Jenny
Lyrics: Bertolt Brecht/Marc Blitzstein
1
You people can watch while I’m scrubbing these floors
And I’m scrubbin’ the floors while you’re gawking
Maybe once ya tip me and it makes ya feel swell
In this crummy Southern town, in this crummy old hotel
But you’ll never guess to who you’re talkin’.
No. You couldn’t ever guess to who you’re talkin’.
Then one night there’s a scream in the night
And you’ll wonder who could that have been
And you see me kinda grinnin’ while I’m scrubbin’
And you say, “What’s she got to grin?”
I’ll tell you.
There’s a ship, the black freighter
with a skull on its masthead
will be coming in.
2
You gentlemen can say, “Hey gal, finish them floors!
Get upstairs! What’s wrong with you! Earn your keep [here!
You toss me your tips
33
revista YAWP
and look out to the ships
4
But I’m counting your heads
By noontime the dock is a-swarmin’ with
as I’m making the beds
[men
Cuz there’s nobody gonna sleep here, honey
comin’ out from the ghostly freighter
Nobody! Nobody!
They move in the shadows where no one
Then one night there’s a scream in the night
[can see
And you say, “Who’s that kicking up a row?”
And they’re chainin’ up people and
And ya see me kinda starin’ out the winda
[they’re bringin’ em to me
And you say, “What’s she got to stare at
askin’ me, “Kill them NOW, or LATER?”
[now?”
Askin’ ME! “Kill them now, or later?”
I’ll tell ya.
Noon by the clock
and so still by the dock
There’s a ship, the black freighter
You can hear a foghorn miles away
turns around in the harbor
And in that quiet of death
shootin’ guns from her bow
I’ll say, “Right now.
Right now!”
3
Then they’ll pile up the bodies
Now you gentlemen can wipe that smile
And I’ll say,
[off your face
“That’ll learn ya!”
‘Cause every building in town is a flat one
This whole frickin’ place will be down to
And the ship, the black freighter
[the ground
disappears out to sea
Only this cheap hotel standing up safe
And on it is me
[and sound
And you yell, “Why do they spare that
BRECHT, Bertolt, “Seeräuber-Jen-
[one?”
ny”, Song Lyrics in German and English.
Yes, that’s what you say.
Available at <htp://german.about.com/
“Why do they spare that one?”
library/blmus_hknef06mb.htm>
All the night through, through the noise
[and to-do
From reading Brecht’s “Pirate
You wonder who is that person that lives
Jenny”, we can consider the importance
[up there?
of both this poem and Brecht himself in
And you see me stepping out in the
the structure of Lars von Trier’s Dogville.
[morning
Firstly, it is clear from the storyline of the
Looking nice with a ribbon in my hair.
poem that it was a great influence in the
plot of the film: a girl who is ill-treated
And the ship, the black freighter
by those around her keeps a secret, and
runs a flag up its masthead
is able to violently force revenge upon
and a cheer rings the air
those who abused her. Another important
element is the influence of Brecht’s Epic
34
literature
Theater, which excludes one of the most
there seems to be such a clear intention of
basic fundamentals of ordinary theater –
taking away from the audience anything
and ordinary cinema: the engendering of
that might interfere with the plot, or dis-
illusion. The film does not attempt to cre-
tract us from what is happening to the
ate an atmosphere of reality, and is able to
characters. Dogville is directed by a Dan-
do so from the very first scenes of the film
ish filmmaker who has never been to the
by the use of the scenery.
United States, and yet this does not seem
Dogville is shot in a black studio,
to be an obstacle to Von Trier’s writing
where we have a blueprint of a city, and
and directing a film about a society that
just a few props here and there. There is
has its geographical center so far away
no mesmerizing horizon for the audience
from him and his homeland. Indeed,
2
to be distracted by , no beauty whatsoever
Dogville shows us how deep American
2 It is interesting
that would prevent us from focusing sole-
cultural values are incorporated in what
to notice how in
ly on the plot, the dialogues and the hor-
we believe to be “human nature”, how
ror that is slowly being played out.
easy it is for us to mistake these values
anymore, the film
There is, from the beginning of the
as universal, how impregnated we are by
is hauntingly
film, a sense of universality, present in the
them, even if we have never left our own
beautiful, and
unidentified nature of the scenery, in the
countries thousands of miles away from
seclusion of the town, the simplicity of its
Hollywood. According to Fredric James-
the effect of the
townspeople, which give us the impres-
on, on the essay “Notes on globalization
lack of aesthetic
sion that the story being told could have
as a philosophical issue”, “American
elements in
happened anywhere, at any time. Dogville
blindness can be registered, for example,
does not want to create an illusion of
in our tendency to confuse the universal
reality, as we are accustomed to expect
and the cultural, as well as to assume that
from films. It seems to make use of the
in any given geopolitical conflict all ele-
estrangement we feel towards these un-
ments and values are somehow equal and
usual formal elements to emphasize trou-
equivalent.” (JAMESON, page 59).
bling aspects of human nature – showing
The film’s plot is elaborate. It is
how self-preservation instincts and re-
divided into chapters that give a concise
venge can take over anyone’s actions –
description of what is about to happen,
and also how a capitalist system excels in
and the film is narrated by an omniscient
exploring what is worst in our nature. Ac-
narrator. In a small town near the Rocky
cording to Brecht, in “Street scene”, “The
Mountains, during the Great Depression,
epic theatre is a highly skilled theatre
Dogville begins. Tom is a young man that
with complex contents and far-reaching
lives in Dogville, and believes to be a writ-
3
Melancholia, this
is not the case
this beauty is
as terrifying as
Dogville – if not
more.
er. Through him, we are introduced to the
3 Available at:
The choice of America as the spot
other residents of the town, that he clear-
http://bit.ly/
where this apparently timeless tale is tak-
ly sees as flawed and in need of guidance –
ing place cannot be seen as an accidental
and Tom believes he is worthy of this task.
or minor characteristic of the film, as
Yet, he has nothing to show to back up
social objectives” .
tkFJsY
35
revista YAWP
this notion, aside from his own intellectu-
that what had been stopping her from
al pretension. In reality, it seems that his
judging them all along, the fact that they
neighbors are just a poor excuse for him
were poor and did not know any better,
to postpone any actual writing.
was no longer enough to justify their ac-
One night, he hears gunshots, and
the fugitive Grace arrives in the town.
36
tions, and mercilessly and cruelly has the
entire town put to death.
She refuses to tell Tom the reason why
The film was largely viewed by
she is running away, and puts herself in
critics as anti-American, and it is effort-
a completely vulnerable position, telling
less to think of the story as a dark illus-
him that he would be greatly rewarded if
tration – a word that is so many times
he betrayed her and called the gangsters
used by Tom – of how apparently friendly
who were after her. Driven by the plea-
Americans can become brutal and inhu-
sure of finally having someone to hear his
mane when confronted by a stranger. A
advice and willing to blindly follow his di-
country of immigrants, that has for cen-
rections, Tom suggests that, in exchange
turies received vulnerable and poor peo-
for protection, she would work some time
ple who had nothing to offer except their
everyday for all the residents of Dogville.
workforce, the U.S. have a long history of
The townspeople quickly go from saying
xenophobia, abuse and rationalization of
that they don’t need any help at all to the
this violence – all of which are present in
total and cruel abuse of Grace, who takes
von Trier’s film in Grace’s suffering. The
it all with a martyr’s endurance. Verbal
ending credits that close the film to the
violence becomes physical violence, cli-
sound of David Bowie’s “Young Ameri-
maxing in her rape by all the male resi-
cans”, the pictures of working class Amer-
dents of the town, with the exception of
icans from the 1930s, combined with the
Tom. He just observes everything and
Independence Day sequence, where all
tries to rationalize his neighbor’s, and
the townspeople sing “America the beau-
his own, behavior – in spite of the alleged
tiful”, ironically the verse “God shed His
love he had for her. The vulnerability of
grace on thee”, are also clear indications
her position seems to give an excuse in
of that the film can be seen as a critique to
the townspeople’s mind to do whatever
American culture.
they wanted with her – because they were
A strange sense of unity is devel-
giving her protection. She is then chained
oped by the residents of Dogville through-
to a device to stop her from running away
out the film. At the beginning of the sto-
and, after being refused by Grace, even
ry, this unity does not exist: each house
Tom turns his back on her and decides
seems to be detached from the other, the
to call the gangsters to capture her. We
townspeople are often in conflict amongst
find out then that Grace is the gangsters’
themselves, and they are more individual-
boss’s daughter, and by him is given the
istic. But this changes with the arrival of
possibility of wiping out the entire town.
Grace: she supplies them the ‘other’ with-
Reluctant at first, she eventually realizes
out which no ‘we’ would be possible. As
literature
they unite and become a group, Dogville
the same logic as the Abu Ghraib photos.
now works together against the outsider,
Willis relates the incident to the KKK
Grace. This has been observed in America
movement, that according to her was im-
time and time again; there always seems
pelled by ignorance and poverty5 – the
to be a new threat, a new minority, which
same excuses that Grace gives to not ap-
is persecuted and humiliated in order to
ply the same moral standards she sets for
“protect” the interest of “real Americans”.
herself to the residents of Dogville. Igno-
The people of Dogville believe themselves
rance and poverty have been subterfuge
to be virtuous – they are just doing what
for racism, xenophobia, violence and seg-
they can to protect themselves given
regation throughout American history –
the circumstances – there was no other
as we can see in Willis’ text, from the KKK
choice.
to Abu Ghraib – and is exploited by von
It is possible to draw a comparison
Trier as he begins his trilogy portraying
between what is depicted in Dogville and
America6. Still, Grace does not comply to
the situation analyzed by Susan Willis
this innocence in penury until the end of
in her essay “Quien es mas macho?”. Her
the film: the final turn of the plot suggests
focus is the photos taken by members of
that people should be responsible for
United States army in Iraq of prisoners
their actions, that they do have a choice
being tortured: “Fresh-faced American
of action, and to lower moral standards
girls who could easily double as Disney
for people who are from a lower class or
employees are shown smiling over a pile
do not have a higher degree of education
of naked prisoners and enthusiastically
is arrogant and patronizing. This is, of
giving the “thumbs up” while Iraqi men
course, one possible interpretation.
are forced to masturbate or simulate sex.
According to Lars Von Trier: “Grace
(…) Slavoj Žižek maintains that the Abu
presents herself as a gift to the towns-
Ghraib photos offer insight into ‘the ob-
people, and that’s dangerous. It gives
scene underside of US popular culture’”4
people power over you and power cor-
(pg 117). The story of a simple, Christian
rupts. I think that the people of Dogville
and friendly community that rapes and
were OK until Grace came along, just as
tortures an innocent girl seems to follow
America would be a beautiful country if
4 Willis’ text also deals with the relationship between sex and violence in her essay, and how these two combined
have constantly been a part of American history. They also have a significant role in Dogville, for through rape the
violence against Grace reaches its peak, and through it she loses her own position of human being, to the eyes of
the townspeople. The narrator says: “the harassments in bed did not have to be kept so secret anymore because
they couldn’t really be compared to a sexual act. They were embarrassing the way it is when a hillbilly has his way
with a cow”. Sexual violence can be seen, then, as a device for lowering people, forcing a sense of inferiority.
5 Can we say that the social factors of ignorance and poverty that fueled the Klan’s growth have ever been
overcome?” (Willis, pg 120)
6 Dogville is the first film of a trilogy by Lars von Trier called USA: Land of Opportunities.
37
revista YAWP
there were only millionaires playing golf.
cissistic behavior is often related to very
It would be a wonderful, peaceful soci-
low self-esteem. Nevertheless, despite the
ety, but that is not how it is, as far as I’ve
fact that this sentence says so much about
7
7 DUPONT,
been told.” Grace’s role in the downfall
Tom, it is clear that its literary relevance
Joan. “Lars von
of Dogville here seems to be more than
is null, still Tom carefully archives it, as
for America”,
ever related to the figure of the foreigner,
if it was worth keeping. The manner the
Trier: Looking
International
the outsider who, in his inferior position,
narrator informs us of Tom’s ‘profession’
Herald Tribune.
ends up disturbing the security of those
is particularly sarcastic, as he describes it
Available at
who are already well settled. However,
through Tom’s eyes. He sees himself as a
iht.com/arti-
Grace’s character seems to be more com-
philosopher, a miner of the human soul,
cles/2003/05/23/
plex and extrapolate this plan. She is no
an observer and an educator to the unin-
dogville_ed3_.
simple outsider in desperate need of help,
structed inhabitants of his town. He has
php?page=2>
she hides the fact that she is powerful and
not done anything to earn all of these ti-
rich, much more than her torturers could
tles, but he firmly believes that he is in a
ever dream of being.
position to counsel the others, as he can
<http://www.
The specificity of Grace’s character
makes her a more elaborated and inter-
38
so clearly point out the moral failures in
all of them.
esting individual, but it is also responsible
Tom is remarkably arrogant when
for giving the plot of the film more com-
it comes to the townspeople. He disagrees
plexity and depth. She is not so innocent
with them at every opportunity he gets:
herself and, just like the other characters,
his father should listen to the news; Chuck
is compelled by the environment she is in
should allow the children to give Moses
to make difficult and controversial deci-
food; Ma Ginger should not hoe the soil as
sions. In order to better understand the
much and, more importantly, they should
character’s motivations, we will direct
all confide in him when it came to ethi-
our focus to Tom and Grace, and how they
cal issues. These are all things he is not
are developed throughout the film.
qualified to judge the others on, but still
As the film begins, we are first
he allows himself to do so. Tom fantasizes
introduced to Tom Edison Jr’s character
about being surrounded by other writers,
by the narrator (that we need to keep in
“great gatherings that’d listen in silence
mind is exceptionally sarcastic, despite
to Tom after the publication of yet anoth-
his serene and nonjudgmental tone of
er volume that scourged and purged the
voice). He informs us that Tom is a writ-
human soul”. Tom’s desire for attention
er. At least he believes so: Tom has only
and recognition is clear, and he would go
written a small sentence – “Great or
through great lengths to achieve it, but he
small?” –, which by itself is the defini-
preferred to postpone actual writing.
tion of Tom. Regardless of the fact that
The cause for Tom’s displeasure
throughout the film Tom is constantly
before Grace’s arrival is soon exposed.
trying to make himself look greater, he
Firstly, he is infatuated with Bill’s sister
is aware of his insignificance. Over-nar-
Liz, who despises him. She is the only one
literature
in Dogville who intimidates Tom, and he
other citizens. Tom deliberately chooses
is not able to confront her and respond to
to mention only negative things, to show
her insults. Secondly, he feels compelled
how clearly he is able to see where the
to educate his neighbors on acceptance
others are going wrong.
and morality, which is nothing more than
Another important factor is that
a way to disguise his inability to write. He
Tom and Grace shared ideals. As much as
hopes to use the townspeople and their
this was attractive to Tom at first, later on,
behavior as an illustration to his work,
when he is inclined to put ideals aside so
hence he consciously converts the town
that they can sleep together, Grace’s ide-
into his own social laboratory, to provide
als prove to be more powerful than his,
the illustration he craved. When he meets
and he eventually is unable to cope with
Grace, he obtains all the tools he needed
rejection.
in order to start his experiment.
It is unlikely that Grace was ever
The reason why Grace became so
more than just an instrument for Tom.
attractive in Tom’s eyes is simple. Apart
She fitted his purposes perfectly, always
from her looks, she was on a terribly vul-
agreeing with him, trusting him and his
nerable position, so that from the start
convictions, relying on him completely.
Tom had a great amount of control over
As time passed, peoples’ ethical standards
her fate. Being responsible for whether
began to sink lower and lower, whereas
she lived or died was the gift he was hop-
Grace’s dependence on Tom became high-
ing for. The narrator tells us Tom felt “a
er and higher. She elevated his self-worth,
fine sensation of mastery… New for him
and probably was responsible for increas-
in terms of the opposite sex”. Liz was im-
ing his confidence until Tom was strong
mediately forgotten, as Grace’s vulnera-
enough to betray her, when Grace came to
bility and amiableness made her a much
be hazardous to him.
simpler object for his advances than Bill’s
sister did.
The fact that Tom is repeatedly
putting Grace in danger validates this
After Tom’s intervention in her fa-
hypothesis: he exposes her to Chuck, who
vor, he takes Grace for a walk around the
is obviously dangerous; even though he
township, showing her the houses and
threatens to, he does not hinder the men
describing each of Dogville’s residents.
from raping her; he tells the other citizens
The manner he characterizes his neigh-
that she stole money from his father; all
bors is extremely disdainful. They are
of this before he actually turned his back
all defined by short, demeaning sentenc-
on her and called the gangsters, a possi-
es, that are meant to make them appear
bility he had on his mind all along, oth-
smaller, and Tom look greater: Chuck and
erwise he would have just thrown the
Vera hate each other, Jack McKay pathet-
telephone number away. What led to Tom
ically hides in his own house, Ben drinks
to turn Grace in was the fact that she in-
and frequents a whorehouse, Ma Ginger
cisively injured his ego. When the town
and Gloria use their store to exploit the
demanded that he took sides and, more
39
revista YAWP
specifically, got rid of Grace, he stood by
Grace’s attitudes at the beginning of the
her, for he believed this to be was the sac-
film, it seems that as much as Tom is test-
rifice he needed to make in order to be
ing her and the townspeople, she is also
gain acceptance in Grace’s bed. When she
conducting a behavioral experience her-
rejects him once more, accusing him of
self. She had never been in touch with a
being tempted to join his neighbors, Tom
poor community before, and naively be-
became angry, “not because he’d been
lieves that they might be different from
wrongly accused but because the charges
the people in the city. She decides to “give
were true! His anger consisted of a most
herself to Tom at random, like a gift”, a
unpleasant feeling of being found out!” as
strange choice of action for a girl who had
put by the narrator. After that, Tom quick-
been involved with gangsters all her life,
ly concludes that Grace was not worth
and perhaps should be more suspicious
threatening his professional career, or
of people. The fact is that, from the start,
depriving his future readers of his works.
Grace is also testing Dogville, trying to fig-
His behavior from this point on shows
ure out how far they are willing to go for
us how feigned he could be, and might
her. Because of that, she does not ask for
have been all along, for he is able to lie to
Tom’s help after the gangsters are gone
Grace’s face the next morning, and even
the first time, on the contrary, she says:
be affectionate to her. Later, completely
“I’m sure he’d offer a big reward if you
unmasked, he exposes himself to Grace
told him where I was”. Instead of trying
in all his cruelty, before trying to fool her
to convince the town that she is reliable,
one last time, when he realizes that the
she tells them they really have no reason
tables are turned, and now she is the one
to trust her. Grace only tries to charm
holding his life on the palm of her hand.
them because she is told to do so by Tom,
Grace’s character is responsible for
and from then on she obeys his every in-
Dogville’s mystery and the denouement of
struction. Grace’s admiration for Dogville
the film. She is superficially represented
comes from the fact that they survive
as a generous, altruistic person, but this
under such harsh conditions and, in her
notion is subverted when she opts for re-
mind, that is enough to gain her compla-
venge, and is responsible for the murder
cence. All of the negativity that Tom sees
of all the citizens of Dogville. Yet a closer
in the town is irrelevant to Grace, because
look at her behavior can suggest that this
living like they do, they could not have
was not a sudden change in her position,
done any better. She can pardon their
but that she was capable of doing this all
faults because she has very low expec-
along. Grace’s analysis will connect her to
tations of them, and therefore the stan-
Brecht’s poem “Pirate Jenny”, which Lars
dards she sets to herself are much higher
Von Trier admittedly used as an inspira-
than the ones set to the townspeople, that
tion when writing Dogville, and is on the
can behave like animals, for they do not
first page of this paper.
know how to act any differently. They
When giving a second glance at
40
are inferior, irresponsible children in her
literature
eyes, and consequently Grace vainly feels
of abuse gives Chuck the encouragement
that what she is doing is close to charity
for raping her later. After he does, Grace
work. What can be superficially seen as
does not want Tom to confront him, be-
generosity in Grace’s tone of voice is con-
cause “even though Chuck looks strong,
descension and a patronizing superiority.
he is not”. His weakness is to Grace an ex-
This can be observed in the count-
cuse for his behavior, thus she sees no rea-
less times Grace forgives, and even encour-
son to discipline him. Once again, poverty
ages immoral attitudes in the people of
gives them the right to be uncivilized. And
Dogville. Ben, for example, should not be
Grace, because she did not grow up poor,
ashamed of going to the whorehouse, for
thinks that she should endure, for she is
he should make the best of his life. This
strong and well-educated, and therefore
statement is extremely contrasting to
is in a position to be better than them.
Grace’s own behavior when it comes to sex,
When Vera confronts her about
as she passively allows all men in Dogville
hitting Jason, Grace could simply have
to rape her, but does not allow herself to be
explained properly what had happened,
intimate with Tom, with whom she is sup-
but she chooses not to, once again test-
posed to be in love. She even tells Tom that
ing the townspeople’s limits. She does
he can have her if he is willing to force her
the same thing when Vera believes that
– once again testing his reactions –but she
Chuck and her are having an affair, Grace
would not consent to it herself, because
could have told her that she was being
her ideals are too great.
raped, but again she does not. After the
An example of how Grace’s be-
figurines are broken, Grace follows Tom’s
nevolence is actually disguising her ar-
advice and tries to leave town, only to be
rogance is her conversation with Chuck,
raped again and accused of stealing Tom
after he tried to kiss her while they were
Senior’s money. Instead of defending her-
picking apples. He confronts her, never
self from the accusations, Grace remains
denying he tried to kiss her, but saying
silent, and for that she is punished with
that he cannot teach her without touch-
the escape mechanism built by Bill, with
ing her. He goes on to say that he does not
the help of the entire town, one of the
believe she cares for apples and, in his
strongest scenes in the film.
rage, he thought of turning her in if she
Grace addresses the citizens one
did not show him more respect. Grace’s
last time, taking Tom’s advice, and final-
reaction is astonishing, as she actual-
ly unemotionally reveals to them all she
ly apologizes, an attitude that is absurd
has been through since her arrival in
considering the circumstances, and even
Dogville. After she finishes her speech,
gives him an excuse for acting the way he
the townspeople decide that she should
did: “You’ve been really alone here haven’t
leave, and that Tom should do something
you? You haven’t had anyone to comfort
to make her disappear without letting
you. And I should ask for your forgive-
her ‘lies’ spread. As we mentioned before,
ness”. Her disregard for this first attempt
Grace rejects Tom’s attempt to sleep with
41
revista YAWP
42
her afterwards and confronts him about
Grace’s father exposes her. He ac-
being tempted to betray her. Again, we see
cuses Grace of being arrogant, because
her challenging him, trying to discover
she forgives those she finds inferior, for
how far he will go for her. Tom calls the
it is in their nature to behave the way
gangsters, and for some days the towns-
they do. She exonerates everyone, for no-
people try to pretend that everything is
body could attain the same moral stan-
normal. From the first morning after the
dards as her, not giving them the chance
meeting, Grace is suspicious, and for the
to be accountable for their actions and
first time actually doubts Tom. The fact is
learn from their mistakes. His speech is
that she could not conceive that the peo-
extremely convincing, mainly because
ple of Dogville could act any differently,
Grace cannot defend herself from his ac-
and from her behavior, we can assume
cusations. She is given time to think, and
that she knew what was going on.
quickly realizes that if she had acted like
On Brecht’s poem, “Pirate Jenny”,
them, “she could not have defended a sin-
the girl that is abused consciously de-
gle one of her actions and could not have
velops a trap to punish the people that
condemned them harshly enough”, and
harmed her. Jenny is not innocent in any
suddenly she decides that it was her duty
point, and she is plotting her revenge from
to make justice, as she had the power to
the beginning, even taking some pleasure
do so. She now vainly takes the place of a
in her own pain: she grins because she
vindictive god, and believes that it is her
knows there will be retribution. On the
responsibility to “make the world a little
third stanza, Jenny says, while making
better”, by burning Dogville to ashes and
the beds: “Cuz there’s nobody gonna sleep
shooting every single one of its residents,
here, honey, Nobody! Nobody!” – a sign
punishing them for their sins. It is, there-
that she knows that they are all going to
fore, erroneous to believe that Grace’s de-
die. Ironically, the same thing happens to
cision is spontaneous and that the Grace
Grace. Hours before the gangsters arrive,
that burns Dogville is detached from the
while making June’s bed she says “No-
one from the beginning of the film. They
body’s gonna sleep here”, and feels star-
are both the same. Grace gave Dogville ev-
tled, not knowing where the words came
ery chance to abuse her, and then takes
from. The sentence shows us that, even if
the role its executioner. As Jenny, she is
only unconsciously, Grace already knew
given the choice of killing everyone: “And
the decision she would make some hours
they’re chainin’ up people/ and they’re
later, when she was bound to meet her
bringin’em to me/ askin’ me, “Kill them
father. In addition, we can consider that
NOW, or LATER?”/ Askin’ ME! “Kill them
Grace’s relationship to the mob was a way
now, or later?””. The passage emphasizes
to approximate her to Jenny, as the mafia
the inversion of power, how she comes
may be seen as a modern equivalent of
from victim to killer. In the end of the
piracy, in its widespread institution of il-
poem, Jenny says: “And the ship, the black
legal actions and violence.
freighter/disappears out to sea/And on it
literature
is me”, a scene that is very similar to the
able references to American culture and
ending of the film, in which Grace leaves
values in Dogville, it is very unlikely that
Dogville burnt to the ground, driving off
the film can be seen by a Brazilian audi-
in a black car.
ence, for example, and people would not
It seems impossible to be indiffer-
identify themselves with what is happen-
ent to Dogville. The film deals with sensi-
ing on the screen: the discomfort we feel
tive issues and is excessively logical and
from watching the film has a lot to do
cruel, in a way that it does not allow us
with the fact that we recognize ourselves
to feel safe, which is what we have grown
in the characters. This is, also, a sign of
accustomed to expect from a movie: a ve-
the cultural reach that the United States
hicle to escape our everyday reality, not
have had, but it is mainly a consequence
one that makes us question our beliefs,
of the capitalist system that is now pres-
principles and ideals. Moreover, because
ent in most of the world, shaping culture,
Dogville takes this second category to ex-
and creating what we consider to be “hu-
treme levels, it is profoundly disturbing
man nature” and “universal” because it
– but it demands our attention. Despite
can be witnessed all around the world.
Y
taking into consideration the innumer-
Bibliography
Jameson, Fredric. “Notes on Global-
Souza, Evelise Guioto de. Dogville,
ization as a philosophical issue”. In: The
Filme e Crítica. Master’s thesis, Universi-
Cultures of Globalization. Edited by Fredric
dade de São Paulo, 2007.
Jameson and Masao Miyoshi. Duke University Press, 1998.
Freud, Sigmund. “Introducción del
narcissismo”. Obras completas, volume 14.
Willis, Susan. “Quien es mas macho?” In Portents of the real: a Primer for
post-9/11 America. Verso, New York, 2005.
p. 115-136.
Buenos Aires: Amorrortu Editores, 1990.
Lima, Elizabeth Maria Freire de
Araújo. “DOGVILLE - ou quando a vida é
reduzida a um ciclo interminável de pro-
Filmography
dução e consumo.” In: Interface, Comunic,
Trier, Lars Von. Dogville. France,
Saúde, Educ, v8, n15. March 2004. p. 393-396.
Lions Gate Entertainment / California
Safatle, Vladimir. “A ética do sacrifício em Gibson e Von Trier”. Available at:
Films. 178’, 2003.
Saif, Sami. Dogville Confessions.
<http://p.php.uol.com.br/tropico/html/
France, Lions Gate Entertainment / Cali-
textos/2358,1.shl>. November 2, 2011.
fornia Films. 53’, 2003.
43
The Grey and the Green: Aspects of
Escapism and Environment in the works
of J.R.R. Tolkien
1 Undergraduate
Eduardo Boheme Kumamoto¹
student of English
at University of
Sao Paulo (USP)
email: eduardo.
Abstract: In this paper I discuss how the British writer and scholar J.R.R.Tolkien,
kumamoto@
who has frequently been labelled as ‘escapist’, can and should be seen as an author aware
usp.br
of the problems of the 20th century. The core of the study consists of an approximation between his biographical and fictional elements concerning the theme of nature, having in
mind the representative images of the Tree and the Machine and their implications. The
addressing of these questions leads to the conclusion that escapism in Tolkien is a form of
resistance, which allows, up to some extent, a political understanding of his works.
Keywords: Tolkien, Escapism, Environment, Politics
Introduction
M
uch has already been said about the stigmatization of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
as an author who, when not indifferent to his time, tried to flee from it. There-
fore, I will here make only an account of main considerations about this paramount
problematic.
The critics who have put Tolkien under the label of escapist had reasons to do
so. Not only is the fantastic genre in literature considered the escapist one par excellence, but also the surface of his works provides enough argument for such an opinion.
Moreover, Tolkien’s own deliberate defence can be easily understood as the outright
confession of what they regard as a literary crime:
[…] I do not accept the tone of scorn or pity with which ‘Escape’ is now so often used: a tone
for which the uses of the word outside literary criticism give no warrant at all. In what the
misusers of Escape are fond of calling Real Life, Escape is evidently as a rule very practical,
and may even be heroic.
(Tolkien, 2006, p.148)
However, it is now a consensus among the experts that his works should not be
taken as “escapist” in the pejorative sense. Two of these great experts, though not entirely consonant in other respects, converge to this one point: for Verlyn Flieger (2000, p.6),
“his work could not have spoken so powerfully to his own century if he had completely
succeeded in escaping it.” Accordingly, Tom Shippey (2001, p.xxvii) claims that Tolkien
was “responding to the issues and anxieties” of the 20th century.
44
literature
Two World Wars, the ascension of
became part of an idealised but lost past:
Nazism and Fascism, the rule of six dif-
in 1900, the family moved to industrial
ferent monarchs in England: as a witness
Birmingham, and this clash between the
of such events and many others in more
pacific rural England and the overcrowd-
than eighty years of life, Tolkien could
ed city, says Carpenter (ibid., p.43), was
not be alienated to his surroundings, and
rapidly felt: “trams struggling up the hill,
certainly not unaware of political issues.
the drab faces of passers-by, and in the
Some of his opinions on Nazism, Fascism,
distance the smoking factory chimneys
Communism, Gender and so forth can
of Sparkbrook and Small Heath.”
be found scattered throughout excellent
Birmingham played an important
books with biographical content, but in
role throughout the Industrial Revolution
this article I intend to deal with another
that took place in England from the 18th
issue that has been widely discussed in
century, and Tolkien’s move from Sare-
recent decades: environment.
hole to this city happened some fourteen
In spite of Tolkien’s suspicion
years before the end of what has been
about the overlapping critics made of his
conventionally called the Second Indus-
life and his fictional work, their proximity
trial Revolution. Among the technologies
in the question of environment cannot be
that were consolidated during this phase
overlooked. Thus, this article will feed on
was the internal combustion engine.
this proximity, by means of a description
“How I wish the ‘infernal combus-
of both aspects and the establishment of a
tion’ engine had never been invented. Or
relation between them, so that in the con-
[…] that it could have been put to rational
clusion I will try to explain how this mat-
uses — if any.”, remarked Tolkien in one
ter can be ultimately regarded as political
of his letters (id., 2006b, p.77). He had such
(however subtly) in its implications.
a rich imagination that even this contempt for cars served as a fictional matrix
to him: a car was a “supporting actor” in
It had begun with a leaf…
In search for Tolkien’s relation
with nature, the biographical records lead
us straight to Sarehole, a hamlet near Bir-
Mr. Bliss, a children’s book invested with
Tolkien’s own lack of skill in driving the
automobile he bought in 1932.
Besides
technological
progress,
mingham to which John Ronald moved
the chief notion we nowadays have of pol-
with his mother and brother in 1896.
lution is also a product of the Industrial
Humphrey Carpenter (2002, p.35) notes
Revolution, when great loads of coal were
that “The effect of this move on Ronald
used to feed the voracious machines. How
was deep and permanent. Just at the age
ironic it is that Tolkien’s love for the Welsh
when his imagination was opening out, he
language, which was later to become im-
found himself in the English countryside.”
portant to his legendarium, should have
This period of his life is easily ro-
been awakened by the inscriptions on coal-
manticised, especially because it soon
trucks during his period in Birmingham.
45
revista YAWP
There was something of an Arca-
Gondor, Niggle’s tree, the Birch in Faery;
dian2 in him. Warren Lewis, C. S. Lewis’s
even the sparse, incipient trees on the
brother, recollected in his diary an an-
mountains of the Dark Land of Mordor:
ecdote which tells how Tolkien, strolling
the recurrence and relevance of this image
with a group in Oxford, spotted some
throughout the books is so noticeable that
movement
deer: “Tolkien swept off his hat to them
the Tree has become one of the strongest,
that arose in
and remarked ‘Hail fallow [sic] well met’”
if not the strongest symbol of his works.
some European
(id., 2006a. p.56). There certainly coexist-
And it was not only in fiction: many of his
ed in him both Arcadian values of fugere
finest drawings are depictions of trees (cf.,
called Arcadismo
urbem and locus amoenus. Once again the
for instance, the Tree of Amalion); his letters
in Portuguese,
issue of escapism emerges: was it possible
are full of references to them. Even the last
and which
to escape from City in a physical world, in
picture took in his life shows him in front
“Real Life” as it were, when City was de-
of one of his favourite trees in Oxford.
2 The reference
here is to
the literary
countries in
the 18th century,
cherished the
simplicity and
temperance of
vouring whatever stood on its way? Was
As it occurred with nature as a
a pastoral life.
there any familiar locus amoenus remain-
whole, the destruction of trees was a sor-
It is roughly
ing? In Tolkien’s case, the answer seems
row for him, and he found “human mal-
no. He did return to Sarehole in the 1930’s,
treatment of them as hard to bear as some
Neoclassicism
but Sarehole was not there anymore. At
find ill-treatment of animals” (ibid, p.220).
in English (or
least not the one he used to know, with its
When a large poplar tree of his acquain-
new and numerous buildings.
tance (and “acquaintance” is an appropri-
equivalent to
what is called
perhaps a branch
of Neoclassicism
All nature, its importance and
ate word) was suddenly cut down, he re-
equivalent),
gradual disappearance, was summarised,
marked, grieved: “I do not think it had any
but the word
for Tolkien, in the Trees. Some justifica-
friends, or any mourners except myself
‘Arcadian’ is
tion is necessary. In a letter to his son
and a pair of owls” (Tolkien, 2001, p.vi).
rather than an
more appropriate
Christopher (id, 2006b, p.91), he said that
Of course, against what is “nat-
discussion than
spacious, barren lands, such as those he
ural” stand “artificial” things. For him,
‘Neoclassical’.
used to see as a small child in South Afri-
artificiality was epitomised in the afore-
ca, stirred deeply his heart, and that if this
mentioned machines; the polluting, noisy
kind of landscape did not exist, he would
devices, which supposedly saved labour,
be left with a hatred for green. But the de-
but ended up creating “endless and worse
light in barren grounds does not under-
labour”, as he himself asserted (Carpen-
mine the role of Trees in his imaginarium,
ter, 2006b, p.88).
to the present
as long as they are natural and not a prod-
Nor was this the kind of thing
uct of human hands. In this sense, even de-
enjoyed by the hobbits, a rustic folk
void, sandy grounds can be circumscribed
who “do not and did not understand or
within the range of the arboreal image.
like machines more complicated than a
To mention some examples, the
Ents in Fangorn forest, the Two Trees in
46
forge-bellows, a water-mill, or a handloom […]” (Tolkien, 2008a, p.1).
Valinor, the Fragrant Trees in Númenor,
Christopher Tolkien commented
the Mallorns in Lórien; the White Tree in
in a documentary3 that, for his father,
literature
machines represented coercion and dom-
the proud and powerful elvish prince; the
ination. This may be interpreted in two
jealous elf and courtier, Saeros: they all be-
ways, both of them correct: the domina-
long to a higher rank in their spheres, but
tion of Men over Nature, the main scope
suffer some kind of disparagement.
3 J.R.R.T.: A Film
of this paper, and the domination of Men
Therefore, the roles of superior
over Men. Tolkien dealt with the latter on
and inferior personae are inverted, and the
a basis of inversion and dissipation that
nefarious domination is dissipated, gener-
can be explained by means of examples.
ating a period of appeasement in the final
produced in 1992,
One of themes that most moved
scenes which, however, does not configure
the centenary of
him was the aggrandisement of the seem-
an altogether “happy ending”, at least not
ingly unimportant people before the
in a permanent sense: in Tolkien’s litera-
course of History, and his hobbits are the
ture, Evil works in cycles, and though it
greatest representatives of this theme.
can be kept at bay, it cannot be fully elimi-
Farmer Giles of Ham, the protagonist of
nated, since its seeds will ever grow again.
a homonymous story published in 1949,
The land of the hobbits, called
also evinces this kind of ennoblement. It
The Shire, seems to be consolidated in
is noteworthy that Giles is sometimes re-
people’s minds as an earthly paradise. But
ferred to as a “churl”, a word which is in-
this image can be deceitful, particularly for
serted in the semantic field of “rustic” and
those whose appreciation of Tolkien goes
can also be used pejoratively.
no further than Peter Jackson’s film trilo-
Thus, both terms show how the
gy. By the end of The Lord of the Rings, the
“unimportant” characters were at times
Shire has gone through a drastic change:
related to rural landscapes, and yet they
“An avenue of trees had stood there. They
were the ones who carried the potential to
were all gone. And looking with dismay
change radically the lives of many and as-
up the road towards Bag End, they saw a
cend socially: Farmer Giles becomes king;
tall chimney of brick in the distance. It was
Meriadoc, Peregrin and Samwise, three of
pouring out black smoke into the evening
the main hobbits in The Lord of the Rings,
air” (id., 2008b, p.1314).
the latter being a gardener, eventually
The degradation of the Shire is but
achieve high social positions. Frodo’s tra-
a glimpse of what the whole world began
jectory is also upwards, since he is grant-
experiencing long before the time of The
ed the transcendent right of sailing over-
Lord of the Rings: according to Tolkien’s
seas never to return.
legendarium, we live in Arda Marred, the
On the other hand, there are plen-
world disfigured by Evil. Take, for in-
ty examples of “great” characters being
stance, another fragment that pungently
portrayed in a moral and physical process
depicts the corruption in nature:
Portrait of
J.R.R.Tolkien was
a documentary
his birth.
of debasement. The greedy king of Farmer
Giles of Ham; the arrogant king of Númenor,
Where once the fair pool of Ivrin had
Ar-Pharazôn; or Gríma Wormtongue, the
lain in its great stone basin carved by
deceitful advisor to the sovereign; Fëanor,
falling waters, and all about it had been
47
revista YAWP
a tree-clad hollow under the hills, now
subordination. To overthrow enormous
[Voronwë] saw a land defiled and deso-
areas of forest and put a pasture instead
late. The trees were burned or uproot-
or to disrupt fragile aquatic ecosystems so
ed; and the stone-marges of the pool
as to build hydroelectric stations are fla-
were broken, so that the waters of Ivrin
grant illustrations of how the ends over-
strayed and wrought a great barren
come by far the means. Only that these
marsh amid the ruin. All now was but a
ends are perhaps not the best ones. Many
welter of frozen mire, and a reek of de-
“hindrances to progress” had to, have
cay lay like a foul mist upon the ground.
to and will have to be sacrificed in this
(id., 2010, p.49)
whole process of subordination.
However, one might argue that
This is also indicative of how the
all ended well in the Shire. It is eventual-
Shire is a small illustration of the whole
ly healed: Saruman is killed, trees grow
world: in the above quotation, Evil is the
again stronger and more beautiful, and
Primordial Evil, configured in the arch-vil-
the streams and rivers run clear once
lain Morgoth. In The Lord of the Rings, Evil
more. But, as a counterargument, every
is incarnated in lesser spirits. With regard
healing presupposes a wound, as much as
to the case of the Shire specifically, it is
every healed wound presupposes a scar, if
represented by Saruman, a wizard. Wher-
not a physical one, at least a scar in Mem-
ever he is, Saruman promotes the destruc-
ory. And Memory is, in Tolkien’s works,
tion of nature in favour of machines, and
the great abyss that separates a healed
his deeds leave behind a trail of smoke.
thing and a renewed one. As mentioned
Again there is an opposition between Nat-
before, “happy endings” in Tolkien’s more
ural and Artificial: on one side, Saruman;
serious works are often illusory.
on the other, Radagast, another wizard,
Another example of this distinc-
whose provinces are the plants and the
tion, in a simplistic way, are the immor-
animals. Saruman holds for him great
tal characters, the Elves, who can “die” by
contempt and refers to him as “the Sim-
means of violence or grief but are able to
ple” and “the Fool”, words that carry a se-
reincarnate with the same memories and
mantic relation with “Churl” and “Rustic”.
without the sorrow they once bore. They
Besides his fondness for machines,
are, in this way, healed, but not new. The
he is known within the books for the per-
48
same occurs with the Shire.
suasive power of his voice. Concerning his
We end up with the same ques-
speeches, Tom Shippey makes a brilliant
tion: is there any familiar locus amoenus
assertion (2005, pp.135-136): “Saruman
remaining for the hobbits to return to?
talks like a politician”, and in his claptrap
The answer is still no. Not while Memo-
he betrays, among other things, a defence
ry lingers. Tolkien’s Shire does not owe
of the “subordination of means to ends.”
to Sarehole its origins alone, but also the
Why, contemporary world can
feeling of an irremediable loss. It is “long
be largely described as a product of such
ago in the quiet of the world, when there
literature
was less noise and more green” that The
rejects it, either in political and supra-po-
Hobbit begins, but that is not how The Lord
litical levels. This is one plausible way of
of The Rings is closed. In the end, the fate
looking at it. However, one can see es-
of the Shire is to be green but stained with
capism also as a form of resistance, and
the specks and the memory of grey.
a most “heroic” one, as he put it. By finding his way into ancient times, Tolkien
projected in literary form the values that
Conclusive remarks
T
he wanted to see restored, and also, in
he title of the second session, “It had
opposition, reinforced which elements in
begun with a leaf…”, is a direct refer-
his contemporary society should be dis-
ence to the short story Leaf by Niggle, pub-
missed, despised and disposed of.
lished in 1945. In this allegorical piece,
In other words, it is not a simple
the painter Niggle begins his magnum
escape, a mere nostalgic trip, but a fiction-
opus with a leaf, which then evolves to a
al revisiting to the past in search for an-
tree and finally becomes a whole country.
swers to questions and solutions to prob-
This gradation can be used to illustrate
lems which then afflicted him. However,
the expansion of the environment issue,
these problems, rather than being solved,
which began timidly but has now become
acquired even greater proportions now-
urgent: greenhouse effect, global warm-
adays: the dragons got bigger. Therefore
ing, deforestation, pollution, overgrowth
Tolkien, with his literature, was offering
of cities and overpopulation are some of
resistance to a concrete world, and be
the key-expressions of our time. Being ur-
sure to understand “concrete” as an adjec-
gent, such questions made their way into
tive and as a noun.
the agenda of politicians. Nowadays, it is
in to be green.
Many who were eager to interpret
The Lord of the Rings in a political, engaged
Of course politics is not exclusive
perspective, did so by means of wrong and
to politicians. Literature, for example, has
easily refutable premises, say, “The Lord of
always played a decisive role as a politi-
the Rings is an account of World War II in
cal tool. One may ask, however, if engagé
fantasy form,” and “Tolkien was a racist”.
literature is the most efficient of tools.
There are more down-to-earth ways to
Shippey (ibid., p.371) holds it is not: “it is
search for this kind of content.
the fantasists like Orwell or Golding or
To exalt nature and loathe ma-
Vonnegut or Tolkien who have been con-
chines, for example, was a subtle politi-
fronting the fearful and horrible issues of
cal response to one of the anxieties of his
political life, while the E. M. Forsters and
time. But that was not the only concern
John Updikes stayed within their shel-
in his mind. He himself recognised that
tered Shires.”
“there are other things more grim and
For the last time, I put the ques-
terrible to fly from than the noise, stench,
tion of “escapism” on the stage. Shippey’s
ruthlessness, and extravagance of the in-
interpretation is that Tolkien ultimately
ternal-combustion engine. There are hun-
49
revista YAWP
ger, thirst, poverty, pain, sorrow, injustice,
diction. But the point is that if this char-
death.” (Tolkien, 2006, p.151)
acteristic was generalised, it would be
Readers of this article may have
overexploited and, as a consequence, the
reached this point with the impression
richness of his stories would be reduced.
that Professor Tolkien’s work is a collec-
Therefore, it is better and more profitable
tion of Manichaean dichotomies: green
to think that there are political concerns
and grey; Natural and Artificial; Trees and
indeed, which are strewed throughout his
Machines; simple people versus powerful
narratives in a way that allows them to
people; Radagast and Saruman. Another
be recognised and/or interpreted as such,
article would be necessary to explain why
but also preventing the work from being
this is not true as a general rule, but if read-
merely propagandistic.
ers think so, they are not to be blamed. In
To say that Tolkien was an en-
fact, an impression of dichotomization,
vironmentalist, or an activist (a word
however false it may be, is also reflected
laden with political implications), or a
by politics; a battlefield for the Left and
“tree-hugger” is preposterous to anyone
the Right. With the only difference that
more or less familiarised with his life. On
the Evil one is always… the other one.
the other hand, it would be even less ac-
After all, is politics everything
ceptable to think that he must be regard-
in Tolkien’s works? And is it a pervasive
ed as a “détaché-entertainer”, someone
feature? Not likely. Under the light of this
who wrote exclusively to delight the gen-
exposition, the word politics itself, derived
eral public, a stranger in his own world
from polis, “city”, would be even a contra-
and to his own time.
Bibliography
______. The Road to Middle-earth.
Carpenter, Humphrey. The In-
London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2005.
klings: C.S.Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkien, Charles Wil-
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings:
liams and their friends. London: Harper
The Fellowship of the Ring. London: Harper
Collins Publishers, 2006a.
Collins Publishers, 2008a.
______. J.R.R.Tolkien: a Biography.
______. The Lord of the Rings: The
London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2002.
Return of the King. London: Harper Collins
______;
TOLKIEN,
Christopher
(editors). The Letters of J.R.R.Tolkien. London: Harper Collins Publishers, 2006b.
Flieger, Verlyn. A Question of Time:
J.R.R.Tolkien’s Road to Faërie. Kent: The
Kent State University Press, 2000.
Shippey, Tom. J.R.R.Tolkien: Author
50
Y
Publishers, 2008b.
______. The Monster and the Critics
and Other Essays. London: Harper Collins
Publishers, 2006.
______. Tree and Leaf. London:
Harper Collins Publishers, 2001.
______.
Unfinished
Tales
of
of the Century. London: Harper Collins
Númenor and Middle-earth. London: Harp-
Publishers, 2001.
er Collins Publishers, 2010.
The Demystification of the Figure of Genius and Sexist
Stereotypes of Dominant Society in the movie
Deconstructing Harry by Woody Allen
Amanda Souza¹
1 Undergraduate
student of English
at University of
Abstract: The movie Deconstructing Harry (1997) by Woody Allen unveils the
myth of the Genius, a person apart from society with “natural” fantastic abilities which
Sao Paulo (USP)
email: am_otk@
hotmail.com
could be represented by the writer Harry Block, the main movie character. However, the
“natural ability” for fiction from Harry comes from his stories lived with his ex-wives
retold with different names and places in his books, so the Harry geniality is wrong.
Implicitly, the movie shows how the concept of geniality from the dominant culture
might be misleading. Also, the movie shows a plenty of cultural stereotypes about women, they are “turned to aggressive behavior”, they do harm towards men according to
the perspective from the main male characters or they are merely a commodity to be
consumed by them since the protagonist wastes his money with hookers, showing how
women are objects to be manipulated by the hegemonic paternalistic society seen until
today.
Keywords: Woody Allen, Capitalism, Patriarchy, Geniality, Romanticism
T
he movie Deconstructing Harry begins with a scene of woman leaving a taxi car
desperately, which repeats several times along with the classical opening credits of
Woody Allen movies, showing a black background and white letters.
Also, they are accompanied by music, precisely a song called Twisted performed
by Annie Ross.
However, the song is not used as a futile accessory either increasing or manipulating an emotion on the movie spectator, a sad song to portray a deep sorrow felt by
any movie character. The song is applied as a reflection element.
Who sees the movie needs to be aware if the song corroborates or not with perspective of the main narrator in the movie, seeing what is the relation between the song
and the action represented.
The important issue of Twisted is how the song recovers the romantic myth of
genius, a person apart from the society, who has something unique. She is locked on her
own world creating, composing “masterpieces”, thinking about them and her apparently “madness” is a result of prejudice by those who do not understand her ideas and peculiar way of being and did not to study hard, representing the belief of capitalistic society
in which the product is only a product, it exists alone, without interference, hiding the
fact was done by human hands and the fabrication of these products requires oppression of dominant class upon the minorities. So a man is a man by his own, Harry did
51
revista YAWP
not finish his college to become a writer
If we connect the geniality of the
and to sell his books which some stories
song with the geniality of Harry, this
underlies sexist stereotypes about women
union is “false”. The geniality discourse
which will be analyzed in this essay.
is relativized through the movie. It is
Every statement of the song is a
clear that Harry is not genius. He writes
key element to comprehend the perspec-
his stories inspired by his own life, there
tive of main narrator and character in the
are autobiographical elements which are
movie, Harry Block, a writer who lives a
very notable on his fiction. The woman
deep crisis life which affects his writing;
that appears in the first scenes is Lucy, his
he does not know anymore how to begin
ex-lover and sister of his last and ex-wife
a story.
Jane.
“My annalist told me that I was right
After the opening credits, we have
out of my head”, this phrase is a literal
scenes of betrayal by Leslie and Ken, both
mention to the mind state of Harry Block,
are married, and the latter is married with
he is a writer and the fiction world created
her sister. Then, will be known that these
by himself will intrude his life. He starts
scenes are filmed scenes from Harry’s
to talk with characters from his novels or
novel were really inspired on his betrayal
living situations lived by his characters as
of Jane with Lucy. Nevertheless, the story
in The Actor, a story he tells to his annalist
is not well disguised, even the name of the
in which the protagonist, an actor who is
characters. Harry just changed the name
completely blurred physically and Harry
of Jane to Janet. Thus, Lucy recognizes ev-
will live the same situation.
erything on his story, she is furious and
However, as it was mentioned
there are scenes in the Harry’s apartment
before, the issue of geniality as import-
where she tries to kill him, because Jane
ant issue of the song, it appears on these
discovered though the book, the betrayal
phrases:
of her sister and Lucy is abandoned by her
husband.
They say as a child I appeared a little
bit wild
Her dialogue with Harry is important. As Lucy says
With all my crazy ideas
But I knew what was happening’, I knew
How could you write that book? Are
[I was a genius”
you so selfish…you don’t give a shit
“But I said “Dear doctor, I think that it’s
who you destroy? “Everyone’s misery,
[you instead
you even cause misery… and use your
Cause I have a got a thing that’s unique
alchemy to turn it to gold”, “literary
[and new
gold”
It proves that I‘ll have the last laugh
[on you
‘Cause instead of one head …I got two
Although she is exalted, her words
make sense, Harry explores what he lived,
and his experiences are used to write
52
literature
books and to sell them, they are worthy
represent the real characters. The Harry’s
profit. However, they are used not to make
second wife, Joan is represented by Demi
their readers learning, reflecting their
Moore, an actress known by her beauty.
lives, though they are used to entertain
Besides, the Joan fictional seems calmer
them. If we remember the text of Walter
than the real one.
Benjamin, The narrator. The type of narra-
with the characters that are alter-ego
tor who tells his stories, he has something
from Harry.
The same is applied
to tell, because he learned with his expe-
All these examples illustrate his
riences and acquired some knowledge
perspective; the art is a sort of “salvation”,
which is passed to those who hear them.
where the world which can be manipulat-
Thus, if we look at Harry, he is not this
ed through characters, plot and it is nicer
kind of narrator.
than the real world. It shows his alien-
When Lucy says “Of, course, you
ation from the rest of the world.
made a few stupid exaggeration”, “Ken fon-
Even though he is not considered
dled Leslie’s large breasts”, “You gave her
himself as a genius, the way he lives is
large breasts”. This indicates the Harry
like a genius figure, but if see the whole
modus operandi. He modifies his real expe-
movie, we see how this figure is an ideol-
riences in his books to be funnier, to be
ogy, because everything he writes is not
delighted in the common sense of what
“unique” , “new” or he had an original
arts should only entertain their receiv-
ideas to write.
ers. The scene of betrayal is settled inside
the cottage and Leslie grandma appears,
As it was mentioned before, his fiction is inspired by situations he lived.
though she is blind and they talk with her
Besides, he believes in geniality.
while they are making sex. In real life,
This can be seen in the dialogue with his
we know through Lucy that this scene
young son, Hilliard. Harry congratulates
really happened, but it was settled on her
his son when Hilliard wants to name his
father’s funeral, showing how things are
penis as “Dillinger”. The writer says “Dil-
“nicer” in fiction than the reality accord-
linger us perfect!”, “Dillinger is great!”,
ing to Harry.
“Dillinger was a genius in his chosen pro-
When we see the characters from
fession… like Willy Sutton”.
the filmed scenes of his novels that appear
Dillinger and Willy Sutton are
in the movie, and then compare them
known as American famous gangsters
with the characters of “real life” from
and their exceptional intelligence to com-
Harry, we see physical differences.
mit his crimes. They represent this figure
The characters from his books
are more beautiful physically if we think
of geniality, living not according to the
legal laws².
about the hegemonic and dominant view
Also, when he knows that Adair
of beauty in our society. The actresses
University wants to honor him because
who represent the sisters Lucy and Jane,
of his work, even he did not finish his col-
they have nicer appearance by those who
lege. He feels pride about it. Implicitly, we
2 John Dillinger.
Disponível em:
<http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/
John_Dillinger>.
53
revista YAWP
can think that as he is a genuine artist, he
deal of products which are not necessary
did not to study to become one.
to live with. Harry, immerse on his nar-
The manner Harry lives, alone and
cissism, he will not accept that his last
desiring that life conspires according to
girlfriend who abandoned him to flirt his
his wishes, makes him to live immerse on
friend, Larry. As he knows that he will be
his narcissism. When he tells one of his
honored by the Adair University, he invites
stories, the Actor to his annalist, the end of
Fray, but the homage date is concomitant
the story is the actor’s family using glasses
with her wedding with the “devilish” Larry.
to deal with his new way of being, since he
became physically a blurring figure.
One of his stories, when he talks
about the marriage with his second wife
When the annalist says to him
and mother of his only child, it is clear he
“You expect the world to adjust… to the dis-
blames her in relation to their relation-
tortion you’ve become”. He is not wrong in
ship was not successful, because her “ex-
this affirmation. Harry became a selfish
aggerated Jewish beliefs” and her mother-
man, spending his money with hookers,
hood makes them “never socialize”.
because with them he does not need to
Trough his stories, the problems
conquer them, he just pays, as he says
occur not because of him. The “others”
“You don’t have to discuss Proust or films”
cause his problems.
with them.
Peter Bailey clarifies this idea:
His life is without meaningless
and coherence. He compensates this with
The central defect of Harry’s work,
hookers and pills, showing an element of
clearly, is the cardinal defect of his life:
contemporary life. As says Girgus (2002):
narcissism. Because it is so busy indicating others for what Harry believes
Deconstructing Harry proposes con-
they have done to him, his work never
comitant crises in our culture of mind,
moves beyond the closed circle of ego-
morality and psyche. Allen presents a
tism to register the reality or complexi-
world, according to Harry Block, of in-
ty of other lives. Therefore, his charac-
coherence, fragmentation, and distor-
ters are caricatures expressing Harry’s
tion that defies human understanding.
resentment at their models’ refusals to
As Harry lives in this world, morals
fulfill his desires.
and values become arbitrary. (…) In the
(Bailey, 2001)
absence of coherence, belief, and certitude for Harry, forces and institutions
His egocentrism will make him
of pornography, perversion, and power
to a weird road movie, with a proposal of
converge to define the current social
searching meaning of life in the homage
and cultural condition.
to him from a University he studied, but
he did not finish the course there.
54
To compensate their meaningless
He kidnaps his son from her ex-
lives, the capitalistic society buys a great
wife; he takes the hooker Cookie and his
literature
friend Richard who has a heart disease
to the University, there are flashbacks to-
with him.
gether with filmed scenes from his books.
Through his journey, he goes to his
Other important aspect in the
sister house. She is strictly Jewish and he
movie is how the characters use their
does not accept that she became a religious
intellectual apparatus superficially. Har-
person as she says to him “Because it always
ry comments about Freud with his son
enraged you that I returned to my roots”.
“Freud said the most important things in
However, she is the character most
life… ate the work that you chose and sex”
next to understanding Harry. His absence
He left behind a plenty of issues
of parameters to live and how he compen-
from Freud’s work, the historical context
sates it: “You have no values. Your life...it’s
of his studies about sexuality and other
nihilism, cynicism, sarcasm and orgasm.”,
important aspects are not mentioned. He
“He’s betting everything on physics and
justifies he likes sex because Freud said
pussy. He has no spiritual center”.
this.
In the moment that he cannot un-
He talks that “When I was young-
derstand anymore what he lives and sees
er, it was less scary... Waiting for Lefty than
in the world and so rooted on physical
it is Waiting for Godot”, he just say this
experience and how he believes in this
without purpose or what is the reason he
world which cab “touchable”, this makes
says this.
him to have “the block” of his last name
in his work.
Fray says to him that their relationship was like “Henry Higgins and
This “block” not only appears on
Eliza Doolittle”, characters from the play
Harry, though also in the construction
Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw. The play
of the movie. There are fast abrupt cuts
story tells about a phonetic teacher who
from a frame scene to the other. The scene
tries to attenuate the cockney accent
which we see Richard coming to Harry for
from the flower girl Doolittle and make
the first time, the camera does not capture
her to look like as if she was a Duchess, a
the whole action of Richard’s walking to-
member of High Society. Fray just under-
wards Harry. We see Richard appearing
lies the fact of teacher – student. Harry is
and going to Harry, though it is not shown
a sort of a teacher to her and learned with
totally this act, we see only its half of it.
him. However, the play is much more the
Soon, we see him talking with Harry.
relation between teacher and her pupil.
The movie does not have the pat-
It satirizes the rigid British Class system
tern of naturalism of causality between
and talks somehow about the women’s
from scene to the other which gives the
independence.3
impression of realism as witnessing a
“real” action developing in front of us.
Moreover, the characters show
a lot of cultural stereotypes. Amazon is
3 Pygmalion of
Bernard Shaw.
Disponível em:
<http://en.wikipe-
We see Harry talking with his
summarized as place with “Malaria” and
characters and with his dead friend Rich-
“Butterflies with the size of doves” by Larry
Pygmalion_
ard who dies during their crazy journey
and Harry.
(play)>.
dia.org/wiki/
55
revista YAWP
The woman’s position in the movie is diminished as merely commodities.
When we see the scenes of the
like man who are aggressive, which is can
be considered a trace of masculinity (other stereotype).
story “Death knocks”, Harvey Stern, al-
At the end of the movie, his jour-
ter-ego from Harry, he works in a shoe
ney to Adair University is a disaster.
store and wants to betray her wife. He
His friend Richard dies, while Harry is
talks with a co-worker who advises him
talking with University about his works,
to pay a hooker and go to a hotel, though
he is arrested due to his son kidnapping.
Harvey says that he does not have money
The dialogue with the professor of
enough. So, his friend says that Harvey
Adair is interesting, because he assumes
needs to get a borrowed apartment from
his defect; he has no traces of geniality on
someone else and says that he knows a
his work. He confesses that everything he
wonderful Japanese hooker.
wrote is part of his life. While he tells the
All this dialogue happens in a
story of man who has his blond girlfriend
commercial establishment, a shoe store.
was stolen by the Devil, inspired by his
The place was not chosen occasionally,
story with Fray and Larry who his ex-girl-
women are products as shoes. Even name
friend preferred his friend instead of him,
of the hooker Cookie emphasizes this fact.
so accusing Larry of being the “devil” who
She is a product to consume.
took his girlfriend from him. When this
As Sam Girgus says
story is filmed, differently from the other
Harry’s stories, all the characters are act-
Figures, most especially women, func-
ed by the same actors of “real” life from
tion as such object- instruments (…)
Harry. There are not traces of disguising.
Whether in Harry’s imagination with
Harry is lived by himself as well Larry.
Leslie (Louis- Drefus) or with the pros-
While Harry starts to write this
titute Cookie (Hazele Godman), sexu-
story ‘While Goldberg was asleep one
ality in this film manifests elements
night… the devil entered his apartment…
of sadism and masochism, faceless
abducted his beautiful blonde love… and
service,
subservience,
took her to hell’. There is a scene of a man
self-depreciation, and mechanized and
who is not Harry, an actor representing
routinized pleasuring, all usually at
sleeping in the bed with the actress who
special cost do the dignity and respect
plays Fray, Elizabeth Sue.
domination,
Larry and Fray visit him and pay
for women.
(Girgus, 2001)
his bail and Harry accepts their marriage,
saying ‘I give up’.
56
Also, there are stereotypes typical
However, all the facts that Har-
from bourgeoisie society about woman
ry had to live, in the end of the movie he
personality when Larry says to Harry
learned nothing from his last experiences.
“Some women are turned on by aggres-
He goes to his house and imagine
sive behavior”, suggesting that women
that finally received his homage from the
literature
Adair University Scholars and the charac-
he is happier than the real life. The song
ters of his stories are happy and cheer him.
Twisted appears again, making the cyclic
So Harry says that
movement of movie, showing that the
Harry’s perspective did not change.
This, for me, is like the best dream I’ve
This happy-end, if the spectator
had in months”, “the happiest dream”.
adheres to this perspective, probably he
So, he talks about a new story, again
will think that art is really “nicer than the
inspired on him: “A character that’s too
real world”, not an important element to
neurotic to function in life… but can only
reflect, to understand about many aspects
function in an art. Notes for a novel.
of human life which are not either are circulated or told by the hegemonic power.
Y
The movie ends with Harry still
believing that art is the ideal place, where
Bibliography
BAILEY, Peter. “How We Choose
GIRGUS, Sam. The Films of Woody Allen.
to Distort it: Deconstructing Harry”. In:
2nd ed. Cambridge: CUP, 2002. p. 148 - 174.
BAILEY, Peter. The Reluctant Film Art of
John
Dillinger.
Disponível
em:
Woody Allen. Kentucky: The University
<http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dillin-
Press of Kentucky, 2001. p. 241 - 243.
ger>.
GIRGUS, Sam. “Conclusion to the
Pygmalion
of
Bernard
Shaw.
second edition - Allen’s Fall: Mind, Morals,
Disponível em: <http://en.wikipedia.org/
and Meaning in Deconstructing Harry”. In:
wiki/Pygmalion_(play)>.
57
revista YAWP
The Laughable Woman
Undergraduate
student of English
Juliana Cunha¹
at University of
Sao Paulo (USP)
email: juliana
silvacunha@
Abstract: This paper analyzes the short story “The Laughing Man”, by J.D. Salin-
gmail.com
ger, relating it to the moment of female empowerment experienced by the United States
in the context of the publication of this short story. Through this analysis, we show how
the author used a story that relies basically on male characters to talk about issues that
concern the woman of that society.
Keywords: Salinger, abortion, feminism, American literature
O
riginally published in The New Yorker magazine in 1948, the short story The
Laughing Man discusses the collective rite of passage of a group of children and
the young man who takes care of them. The story is driven by an unnamed narrator
who reflects on a remarkable experience in his past while looking to revisit this traumatic experience with adult eyes, trying to use what he knows at the time of the narrative to elucidate what he went through nine years before, in 1928. In this analysis, we
intend to explain how social, economic and gender issues permeate a story that seems
to be so simple and uncomplicated. According to our reading, this story, that apparently
focuses on male characters, actually brings a powerful portrayal of the changing roles
of American women from that time and their process of untying the home environment
that brought consequences for both family and society organization.
During his childhood, the narrator of The Laughing Man belonged to a group of
25 children who were taken care of during the afternoons, Saturdays and most national holidays by a young college student who functioned as a kind of babysitter or “full
year camp monitor”. Hiring his services shows beforehand that these are presumably
middle class children with busy parents. The fact that the kids have a “nanny” during
the holidays gives the impression that they are slightly neglected by their families. The
amount of kids — 25 for only one adult — and the young age of the caregiver reinforce
the idea of the parents’ lack of heed.
The group environment that is present in the story is essentially masculine not
only because it is composed of boys but also because any sign of femininity and family
is refuted. The physical plays and displays of aggression are often punctuated by the
narrator. Early in the story, the narrator explains that when the group is in the mood
for sports they prefer to go to a place where the fields are large and the “opposing team
does not include a pram”: “If we had straight athletics on our minds, we went to Van
Cortlandt, where the playing fields were regulation size and where the opposing team
did not include a baby carriage or an irate old lady with a cane” [page 57]. This subtle
comment presented as one of the narrator’s many rhetoric jokes, is decisive in our interpretation of the story:
58
literature
John Gedsudski, the “monitor”, is
have access to the thoughts of the protag-
the central figure of the story. While the
onist and is unable to give meaning to his
other boys in the group are vaguely and
actions. In this aspect, he resembles other
sparsely described, giving the idea that
narrators that appear in Salinger’s work,
they work rather as a cohesive group than
such as the one from A Perfect Day for Ba-
as individual characters, “the Chief”, the
nanafish, who also refuses to explain the
leader of the Comanches — as the group
meaning of the most decisive actions of
calls itself — is thoroughly studied by the
the protagonist.
narrator. His job is to get the boys at 3 pm
It is worth noting that this is a
at school with his van and take them to
short story that explicitly presupposes
Central Park to play football, baseball or
the existence of a reader and enters into
whatever ball they want for the day. On
dialogue with this presupposed audience,
rainy days, they go to the Natural History
an artifice explored by Salinger in other
Museum or to the Metropolitan.
works. The narrator not only speaks to
John lives in Staten Island —
the reader, he also makes it clear who
which means that he lives in a less priv-
leads this narrative by saying: “I’m not
ileged area than the boys, who live in
saying I will, but I could go on for hours
Manhattan — and combines his “nan-
escorting the reader — forcibly , if nec-
ny” activities with his role as a law stu-
essary — back and forth across the Par-
dent at the New York University [NYU].
is-Chinese border.” [page 61]
He was also a baseball “star”, something
As the narrator explains his pow-
that may have facilitated his entry into a
er as a storyteller by stating that he could
private university. As far as his physical
be “escorting the reader forcibly, if neces-
appearance is concerned, the Chief is far
sary” [page 61], John Gedsudski also wields
from being the best looking guy that ever
power over the group of children through
walked the Earth — he is short, stocky
creating a mythology that indirectly en-
and has a broad nose — but in the eyes of
hances his own figure. Of all the many
the boys he looked like a heartthrob, like a
skills of the “Chief”, storytelling was the
movie star. The general picture is that of a
most valued by the narrator. In the late
young man in financial trading and with
afternoon, when it got too dark to play,
an exhausting workload that includes
the boys went to the bus and vied for the
Saturdays and holidays.
best places to hear The Laughing Man’s
The plot of The Laughing Man
adventures narrated by John. The story
drags on for months and takes the reader
of the “Laughing Man” runs parallel to
to a tour around New York as if they were
the one of the boys and their caregiver. It
aboard the van in which the characters
means that the narrative of the short sto-
wander. By remembering these childhood
ry works in layers: in the foreground we
tours, the narrator aims to unmask a piv-
have an adult who remembers facts from
otal moment that marked his passage to
his childhood. In the background we have
maturity. This narrator, however, does not
the story of John Gedsudski and his boys
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revista YAWP
walking around the town. In addition to
to this affection. His greatest enemy is a
this, we have the story of The Laughing
French detective and her daughter, a girl
Man, who works at the same time as a
who is kind of pretty, but who looks “like
strategy that the caregiver developed to
a transvestite” [page 60].
entertain the children and as a way to im-
Until this point we can notice an
prove his self-esteem by projecting a more
insistent — though subtle — work of is-
attractive image of himself to the kids.
sues related to family and femininity. It
According to the narrator, the tale
appears in the French girl who looks like
of The Laughing Man was tailor-made for
a transvestite, in the orphanage of the
the Comanches and combines the fea-
Laughing Man, which confluences with
tures of a classic. The story has traces
the boys’ condition of certain parental
of famous legends such as The Phantom
abandonment, in the stroller that hinders
of the Opera. The only son of a wealthy
the fun in the park, on the death of the
missionary couple, the protagonist is kid-
mother of the leader of the pack — and
napped in infancy by Chinese bandits. His
will be even more explicit hereafter.
parents decide not to pay the ransom for
The boys embrace the history of
“religious conviction” [page 58], so the bad
Laughter as a personal mythology. Each
guys decide to torture the child to deform
of them imagines themselves as a direct
him and let the boy live with them, always
descendant of the character, not as the
wearing a mask made of poppy, so that he
child of their real life parents. Family life
will not scare them with his monstrous
and boyish everyday activities are just a
face. The Laughing Man learns the ban-
scam to protect their identity as legend-
dit’s secret techniques and excels them,
ary bandits:
turning himself into the biggest crook in
the region. The bad guys became jealous
I was not even my parents’ son in 1928
of his fame and decide to kill him while he
but a devilishly smooth impostor,
sleeps wrapped in a sheet, but they end up
awaiting their slightest blunder as an
killing the mother of the leader of the pack
excuse to move in — preferably with-
by mistake instead. To protect himself —
out violence, but not necessarily — to
not from death, but from hassle — the
assert my true identity. As a precaution
Laughing Man is obliged to lock the bad
against breaking my bogus mother’s
guys in a mausoleum. Then, “our” hero
heart, I planned to take her into my
follows committing crimes and crossing
underworld employ in some unde-
several times the “border” between China
fined but appropriately regal capacity.
and Paris. The Laughing Man becomes
But the main thing I had to do in 1928
the richest man in the world, but gives ev-
was watch my step. Play along with the
erything for monks and lives in a hut with
farce. Brush my teeth. Comb my hair.
four friends — a wolf, a dwarf, a giant
At all costs, stifle my natural hideous
Mongolian and an Eurasian girl who is in
laughter.
love with him, but he does not correspond
60
(pp. 61 – 62)
literature
The driving force that stops the
was Columbia, in 1983. The Seven Sisters
collective farce of the Comanches is a
worked as a female parallel of these elite
woman. One day, the narrator enters the
universities, with broad social (and mar-
van and observes a strange picture of a
riage) flow among their students. The uni-
girl near the driver’s seat: ‘It seemed to
versity attended by the protagonist, NYU,
me that a girl’s picture clashed with the
does not belong to this group.
general men-only decor of the bus, and I
bluntly asked the Chief who she was. He
John justifies the presence of the photo
hedged at first, but finally admitted that
giving the impression it was imposed
she was a girl’. (p. 62)
to him: “(...) the picture had more or
The entry of a female element in
less been planted on him.” [page 63].
the scene is not very well received. John
The word used in the story is “plant-
is challenged to explain who the girl is
ed”, a meaningful lexical choice to this
and what she is doing there. She is Mary
analysis: This word is also used in the
Hudson, we learn, a former student of
old metaphor of the seed planted in
Wellesley College. The Chief does not tell
the belly of the woman to bear a child.
us what she does for a living or what the
Whether it was planted or not, the pic-
status of his relationship with the owner
ture remains intact in the following
of the photograph is, but he emphasiz-
weeks, it is not swept out of the bus
es that the university she attended is a
along with the candy wrappers and
school for rich people, everything that
other traces of children presence, but
John himself does not seem to be. In fact,
the boys are oblivious from that un-
the Wellesley College is a school for rich
pleasant image and go on with their
girls: it is a member of the “Seven Sisters
lives and their farces: “During the next
Colleges”, a collective of American univer-
couple of weeks, the picture — how-
sities aimed solely at women and intend-
ever forcibly or accidentally it had
ed as a “female Ivy League” at a time —
been planted on the Chief — was not
as late as 1960 — when many Ivy League
removed from the bus. It didn’t go out
universities did not accept women. “Ivy
with the Baby Ruth wrappers and the
League” is a group of eight private and
fallen licorice whips.
traditional universities of northeastern
(p. 63)
United States associated with high-quali-
At one point, the owner of the
ty in both sports and academia, but also
picture appears. She knocks on the bus’
with an elitist and conservative spirit. The
door interrupting the narration of an-
term Ivy League came into use in 1954,
other chapter of “The Laughing Man”,
and, therefore, after the publication of
all dressed in a fur coat: she arrives in-
this short story, in 1949. Until the 1960s,
terrupting the collective farce, the story
many of the Ivy League universities ac-
that has given group identity to those
cepted only men in their undergraduate
little men. Woodland animals were the
courses. The last college to receive women
first friends that the Laughing Man had
61
revista YAWP
62
in his life. Now, a woman in a fur coat
Hudson is a girl who does not know when
enters his bus. Mary Hudson is astonish-
to go home. Just like the beautiful girl in
ing beautiful. Throughout the narrator’s
a bathing suit that the narrator would
life, he only meets three women who
meet years later, she has trouble nailing
were irreproachably beautiful. The first
her tent on the beach. The narrator is ap-
was Mary Hudson. The second, a girl in
palled by the refusal and stumbles on a
black swimsuit that he saw struggling to
third stroller. The game ends and the cou-
put down her orange tent on the beach,
ple does not reconcile. Mary Hudson goes
when he was already an adult. The last, a
away running and crying and Chief goes
girl aboard of a ship tour who threw her
back to the bus with his team.
cigarette lighter on purpose (the Laugh-
The narrator does not know what
ing Man would not approve this last one).
happened between them, even today, when
Despite the strength of the group, which
he is already an adult, he just has an “in-
considers her to be a girl who “does not
tuition” about what could have happened:
know when to go home” (p. 64), Mary is
“I had no idea what was going on between
incorporated into the Comanches and
the Chief and Mary Hudson (and still hav-
plays baseball with them a few times a
en’t, in any but a fairly low, intuitive sense),
week. Their friendliness and the fact that
but nonetheless, I couldn’t have been more
she does not play as badly as they expect
certain that Mary Hudson had permanent-
helps in her acceptance.
ly dropped out of the Comanche lineup”.
One day, the van of the Coman-
(p. 70). This intuition is not shared with the
ches stops at the Fifth Avenue to wait for
reader. The narrator doesn’t even try to
Mary Hudson, but she does not come.
assign meaning to the attitude of the pro-
Feeling angry, the Chief goes away and
tagonist, which seems suspicious, since the
takes the kids to the park. In the middle of
very purpose in telling the story was to use
the game, the narrator realizes that Mary
his adult gaze to understand an episode of
Jane is there, watching the game from a
childhood. Instead, the narrator refuses
seat between two nannies with strollers.
to make any kind of analysis, to raise any
This is the time when baby strollers defi-
hypothesis of explanation for the breakup
nitely makes the opposing team. The nar-
between John and Mary. From our point
rator tells John about the presence of the
of view, the narrator of The Laughing Man
girl. He goes over to talk to her. The couple
can, therefore, be classified as unreliable
apparently fight. The Chief returns to the
due to this retraction over the central
field. Mary changes place and go to a bank
event of the narrative.
reserved for players. The narrator goes to
Back at the bus, John brings a trag-
her and invites her to join the team. She
ic end to the story of the Laughing Man
refuses. Then he invites her to have din-
for the terror of the boys. The hero dies on
ner at his house one day and says that the
the hands of the detective and his “trans-
Chief always goes there. She emphatical-
vestite” daughter. The evildoers also die,
ly refuses and asks to be left alone. Mary
but not before giving out the Laughing
literature
Man’s best friend. It means that the char-
critical is that Mary Hudson has an abor-
acter does not only dies, but he dies in a
tion. Frustrated by failing to protect his
useless an antiheroic way, unable to give
own son, John quit playing the father of
protection to his friends. The tragedy is
his 25 Comanches. Maybe things do not
complete and thoroughly descriptive.
need be that radical: the couple might
When the story gets to its final point, the
have just decided to put an end to the re-
youngest of the Comanches hiccups from
lationship when it became clear to both
crying. The narrator recalls that his knees
that Mary Hudson did not know “when to
were shaking. He is left home in shock,
go home”: she did not know how to fulfill
where he receives a bureaucratic treat-
her “female role”. She was displaced, had
ment from his parents. ‘I arrived home
problems in exercising her femininity
with my teeth chattering uncontrollably
as well as the other women who appear
and was told to go right straight to bed’.
in the plot: the daughter of the detective
(p. 73) In the first version of the story, pub-
who looks like a transvestite, the mothers
lished in the New Yorker magazine, this
of the Comanches with their eloquent ab-
passage was slightly different: ‘I arrived
sence, the girl who couldn’t down her tent
home with my teeth chattering uncon-
on the beach.
trollably and had to be put to bed’.
Although the end of history is left
This version excludes any possi-
quite open, the approach to the issue of
bility of physical contact between parent
women and their new roles in American
and child. The narrator is now a com-
society of the time is made clear in this
pletely orphan since John gives up to pro-
short story and Salinger —an author who
tect the Comanches and surrender them
is usually and quite unfairly taken as clois-
to the hardness of life. What happened
tered in his own subjectivity and oblivious
between the couple, which probably moti-
to social issues —, disclose a quite interest-
vated the tragic end of the Laughing Man,
ing artistic treatment of these new female
is left open. One possible interpretation
roles in a story that on the surface appears
that has already been raised by several
to be dominated by men.
Bibliography
Bloom, Harold. J. D. Salinger [Modern Critical Views]. Chelsea House Publishers, New York, 1987
Grunwald, Henry Anatole. Salinger, a critical and personal portrait. Harper
Y
Salinger, J. D. Nine Stories [1953].
Boston: Little, Brown Books, 1991
Bloom’s How to
Kerr, Christine. Write about J.D. Salinger, Chelsea House
Pub, New York, 2007
Perennial, New York, 1962
Mcduffie, Brad. Teaching Salinger’s
NINE STORIES. New Street Communications, Wickford Village, 2011
63
Luiz Ruffato and Aluísio Azevedo:
A socio-comparison between Um Outro
Mundo and O Cortiço
Laysi Praxedes Nobre¹
1 Undergraduate
student of English
at University
of Sao Paulo
(USP) email:
laysipraxedes@
Abstract: This study aims to analyze the novel O Cortiço (1890), by Aluísio Azeve-
gmail.com
do in comparison to the “short story” Um outro mundo, from the novel O Mundo Inimigo
(2005), by Luiz Ruffato. The objective here is to compare the socio-political aspects from
both works through Claudio Guillén’s supranational model of comparative literature
and detect how this historical background influences the content and form of these
sample Brazilian literature. The supranational model b of comparative literature, from
Guillén, claims that a comparison can occur when the social-economic aspects is similar to the literary works compared. I approximate the end of the nineteenth century with the 1960s and 1970s during the twentieth century, in terms of socio-economic
characteristics, to show how those local and particular characteristics of our history
influenced the literary work of Azevedo and Ruffato, in concern with the novels already
mentioned.
Keywords: Brazilian Literature, Comparative Literature, Socio-Economic aims,
Aluísio Azevedo, Luiz Ruffato.
Introduction
A
s a common knowledge, O Cortiço (1890) has been studied as a naturalistic novel
from the second part of the nineteenth century in Brazil. It narrates the tenement’s
development – which is the main character – through the social rise of João Romão
and his exploitation of Bertoleza as slave. They thus become the parents of the main
character – a building – and the tenement represents metaphorically Brazil with a huge
variety of characters. What I claim here is that this novel, before being considered a
naturalistic work of literature, is a representation of the social-political moment in our
particular history; Azevedo’s writings originates from a local preoccupation with our
politics, not only a aesthetic one.
The scientific ideas/philosophies in this novel came from the social practices
from a generation of political agents. It was since 1890 that this “intellectual” generation, socially heterogenous, carried forward their political actions against the Brazilian
imperial status quo (Alonso, 2002). According to the sociologist Angela Alonso (2002)
these actions was shown in the form and in the act of write and it was made by politics
and intellectuals as well. That’s why the author does not overlap culture and politics,
64
literature
but she identifies the social practices of
in this novel that we find “Um outro mun-
the politics/intellectuals agents and pri-
do”, an excerpt that will be analyzed and
oritizes these practices rather than the
compared with O Cortiço.
analysis from the ideas plan. Then she
In “Um outro mundo”, differently
comes to the conclusion that politics and
from the narrative linearity of O Cortiço,
intellectual activity cannot be separated
the story combines two temporal dimen-
from each other.
sions – present and past – without a clear
I also share some of Antonio Candi-
separation in the life of the main char-
do’s ideas in his article “De Cortiço a Cortiço”
acter, and also, in a way, the narrator, Zé
to this analyses. Antonio Candido (2004)
Pinto. He reports to us his glorious past,
claims that O Cortiço is a primary text, in
nostalgically: how he has been consoli-
the way that it tries to reproduce and in-
dated as a capitalist, owner of rent house,
terpret the Brazilian society, and a second
how he has been forsaking friendships
text, because of the direct influence from
and passions – like his passion for gam-
Émile Zola’s L’Assomoir. In this sense, at the
bling and his love for Valdira – and how
same time the novel reproduces the Bra-
he is now in his old-age. It would be as
zilian reality, it makes it with the form of
João Romão’s story could continue until
the French literary novel (Candido, 2004).
his getting old, after his social climbing.
Therefore, this Brazilian novel creates a
As follows, after having situated the
hybridism that reveals a compositional
novels, this study proposes a comparative
style between the European Naturalism
analysis between these Azevedo and Ruffa-
movement and the Romantics movement
to’s works, already mentioned, through the
of José de Alencar. As a result, the novel
theoretical assumption from the Spanish
becomes more thematic, in comparison to
comparator Claudio Guillén (2005), who
the French: because it makes the relation
developed three models of literary compar-
between who exploits and who is exploited
ison. It will be used here the model b.
coexist together, as it does to the Brazilian
According to Guillén’s suprana-
nature with the capital accumulation pro-
tional model b of literary comparison, we
cess as well (Candido, 2004).
can compare two or more literary works
Ruffato’s novel makes part of a lit-
when the socioeconomic process and de-
erary project from the author that intends
velopment is common for them (Guillén,
to show the Brazilian industrial history
2005). The historic component becomes
from the urban proletarian point of view.
relevant in this theoretical approach,
The project, named as Inferno Provisório
therefore the consciousness between lit-
(2005-2011), with five volumes, begins to
erary and social aspects is a theoretical
narrate since the 1950s to the present the
premise, and the analysis should combine
social and personal history of our urban
both socioeconomic and compositional
working class. The second volume of the
aspects of the narrative.
series, O Mundo Inimigo (2005) is totally
When Azevedo and Ruffato’s lit-
situated between the 1960s and 1970s. It is
erary works are compared and, as an
65
revista YAWP
extension, the nineteenth, twentieth and
twenty-first centuries, in a first moment it
is possible to assess the dissonance of the
compositional narrative techniques. As a
A
s a photograph that reveals a reality
fragmentation picture, even passing
through the subjectivity of the photogra-
consequence, an approximation becomes
pher, Aluísio Azevedo’s literature also ex-
possible to the way that both authors
hibits the external Brazilian reality with
treat a common theme: the logic of capi-
his personal intellectual ideas. Those
tal accumulation and social ascension in
ideas were a result from the European ex-
Brazilian capitalism economy. Different
portation thought with the confrontation
moments of our capitalism are treated
with the Brazilian nineteenth century
through the histories of João Romão and
reality. Then his aesthetics expressions
Zé Pinto. Thus Zé Pinto’s past is connected
were published in journals of religious
with João Romão at the end of Azevedo’s
and slavers critics, pre-determining a
novel; between the last decades of nine-
posture that is called by Angela Alonso
teenth century and twentieth century
“Positivists Abolitionists” (2002). His most
there is a socio-historical approximation
famous novel, O Cortiço (1980) is an exam-
in which permitted that the socio ascen-
ple of how he re-signifies European ideas
sion becomes equal to the characters. Ba-
with our social reality.
sically the difference between both texts,
The novel takes place Rio de Janei-
besides the esthetics elements, is that in
ro City, in a time when the urbanization
Ruffato’s work is narrated the moment
process favors this kind of residence.
before this social ascension and in Aze-
Through the narrative of João Romão’s
vedo’s novel the narrative ends with João
enrichment and development of the
Romão in his higher acquisitive power.
tenement, from three little houses to
Those decades, 1960s and 1970s,
João Romão Avenue, the narrator advise
carry an economic development called
us that this construction, besides João
Brazilian “economic miracle”. In the end
Romão rent money from Bertoleza and
of nineteen century the Brazilian agrar-
work together with her, he also steals,
ian sector was the most relevant to the
“graças à circunstância de que nesse tem-
country, with the service sector starting
po a polícia não se mostrava muito por
to grow by the first capitalists, like João
aquelas alturas” (Azevedo, 2011 p.18). It
Romão and in the 1960s and 1970s the
was, then, from the political-economical
Brazilian industrial potential starts to
model from Brazil nineteenth century
develop, meanly the automobilist one
that made possible this kind of ascension:
(Fausto, 2010). Those facts changed the
through a negligent politic who permitted
way of life and acquisitive power of the
steals and slavery, with a private sacrifices
population.
because of the particular desire to become
In those contexts the two narra-
rich, the novel traces an economic trajec-
tives are developed, justifying a compar-
tory of a capitalist. The focus is how the
ison between them.
66
O Cortiço: brief considerations
literature
process of accumulation of financial re-
Foi da superação fétida destas ide-
sources and capital works and what kind
ias que se formou no coração vazio
of result this economic system provides
do Miranda um novo ideal – o título.
to the oppressed, like the slave Bertoleza,
Faltando-lhe temperamento próprio para
who takes her own life at the end of the
os vícios fortes que enchem a vida de um
book after she finds out that João Romão
homem; sem família a quem possa amar
would to give her back to her “owners”.
e sem imaginação para poder gozar com
The narrative begins with a presen-
as prostitutas [..] desde então principi-
tation of the main character: “João foi, dos
ou a sonhar com um baronato, fazendo
13 aos 25 anos, empregado de um vendeiro
disso o objeto querido de sua existên-
que enriqueceu entre as quatro paredes de
cia, muito satisfeito no íntimo por ter af-
uma suja e obscura taverna nos refolhos
inal descoberto uma coisa em que podia
do bairro Botafogo [...]” (idem, p.14). Since
empregar dinheiro, sem ter, nunca mais,
the beginning the Picture takes from the
de restituí-lo à mulher, nem ter de deixá-
character’s life only covers the economic
lo a pessoa alguma
(idem, p. 32 – 33).
aspects. It does not matter his subjectivity,
his past, what matters are the years that
he began the process of accumulation
The first part in italics reveals the
that, here in this case, it was passed from
motives that the character wants a noble
João Romão’s boss to himself as a cycle: an
title: without vicious, without love and
unscrupulous accumulation cycle:
imagination, what remains for him is the
Desde que a febre de possuir se apoder-
selfish desire to have a name and show it
ou dele totalmente, todos os seus atos,
to the society. It also shows a personality
todos, fosse o mais simples, visavam
who lives in accordance to what the oth-
um interesse pecuniário. Só tinha uma
ers think through the worship for to mon-
preocupação: aumentar os bens [...] Aqui-
ey and social convention.
lo já não era ambição, era uma moléstia
The character of “Um outro mun-
nervosa, uma loucura, um desespero de
do” is going to display this same behavior
acumular, de reduzir tudo a moeda.
of João Romão and Miranda. Centuries af-
(idem, p.26, 27)
ter this previous novel the same Brazilian
issues would be problematized by Luiz
This part of the novel reveals a nat-
Ruffato.
uralistic description of a character; the
desire to become rich that influences all
his actions, like a pathologic disease.
Another character that represents
the desire to become socially important
is the Portuguese Miranda. His desires to
have a noble title, and decide to buy a title
of Baron a common practice on that time:
Aspects from the “Um
outro mundo” and possible
approximations with O Cortiço
U
m outro mundo, like O Cortiço, contains a narrative procedure that has
the process of accumulation. Through
67
revista YAWP
this process it tells the story of a charac-
like Miranda and João Romão’s desires.
ter that is making a revision from his past.
But different from them, here the old man
Hence present and past are conjugated as
is alone in the end of his life, finding in
the same way that the narratives voices
the pornographic videos his lost passion.
are condensates.
Some movements of the prosaic
In the begging of the narrative a
life, as the kitchen noise made by his house-
third person narrator describes Zé Pinto
maid washing the dishes and making his
being awaken by a life never stop, oppos-
food, as well she speaks from the house-
ing his stagnation situation. There is a
maid, put the short story into the present
description of a man of seventy years old.
of the narrative. Thus the narrative has a
This description takes the mental voice
pendulum image, going to the present and
of the character, although there is no dia-
to the past temporal dimensions.
logue or speaking from Zé Pinto, the only
Zé Pinto’s past is narrated as some-
one who speaks is the housemaid twice.
thing positive to him but that he does not
So after the housemaid says a robotic
have anymore. All his life meant the effort
“good morning”, Zé Pinto thinks:
to accumulation things and has “a name”,
Às vezes acreditava que Deus o
like João Romão. When he tells us his sto-
escolhera para semente. Já passara mui-
ry he clearly assumes what kind of paper
to dos setenta anos, o mundo dera tan-
his wife, Maria, developed in his needs:
tas voltas! e ele ali, firme, rijo, as juntas
doíam de quando em quando, mais no in-
Ela debruçada em cima da máqui-
verno, mas era uma bobiça à-toa, a saúde
na-de-costura, as pernas inchadas de
de ferro [...] e o pinto, esse! não podia ver
tocar pedal, para ajuntar uns trocados
uma bunda que já ia despertando, enxeri-
e comprar um metro de areia, uma car-
do (p.173).
roça de tijolo, um saco de cimento [...] E
The enunciation “o mundo dera
ele na labuta, pedreiro sem ser, suspen-
tantas voltas e ele ali, firme, rijo”, contains
dendo pouco a pouco o prumo de cada
the antitheses of world that continues to
parede-e-meia; puxando luz, cômodo
develop and a life that is stagnated. There
por cômodo, sem eletricista ser
is no action in the present because the
(p. 174).
presencce of this character is to remem-
68
ber the past between his movements of
This excert is very similar to the
prosaic life. The I and the world are prob-
beginning of O Cortiço: like the slave
lematize, like the temporal dimension. It
Bertoleza, Maria helped her husband to
also appears here a latent sexual desire. As
become rich, making an enormous effort
we read it we know that Zé Pinto married
(“pernas inchadas”) to reach such finan-
a Portuguese woman to have “a name”, be-
cial status. Maria can be compared with
cause he believes that a man is the name
Bertoleza, they are both only a path that
he has. But he renounced his passion to
men use to get where they dream to. Also,
the black Valdira to have a social position,
when Mary is on the verge of death, Zé
literature
Pinto, opportunistically, asks her to sign a
moves away from João Romão, because he
document that transfers her material pos-
contains a greater complexity. Zé Pinto is
sessions to his name. This passage com-
not only the man who wanted to get rich;
pares the story with the last chapter of
he lost his humanity for that and at the
the tenement, in which João Romão while
end of his life, his noticed it. He had other
delivering Bertoleza again to slavery and
desires, as passion for Valdira, which when
sees committing suicide because of that,
does not hold up to bring the feeling of frus-
get a group of abolitionists in his office,
tration for him. After all, the other is seen
bringing a degree of socio-worthy. Thus,
to such a character as a springboard for so-
we note that the relations between both
cial climb or a cliff that provides financial
Ruffato’s character from Azevedo’s ones,
plummeting. Maria is linked to the first ex-
are permeated by the interest in increas-
ample, the mulatta Valdira to the second.
ing social position.
Their tenants are in the middle: they can
The material issue is so import-
either help him with the rent money, and
ant to Zé Pinto that he is described in the
overthrow him with friendship and com-
story by the things his possess: “Quem
passion that he could nurture.
ainda se lembra de Zé Pinto? O primeiro
Valdira can be compared to Rita
na rua a ter geladeira, quando ninguém
Baiana, as João Romão to Zé Pinto: but dif-
nem sonhava com isso. A ter televião [...],
ferently from O Cortiço’s characters, who
a ter telefone [...] a ter fogão-a-gás. Mas
were overwhelmed by the place they lived
para conquistar esses confortos todos,
in (Brazil), Zé Pinto stands firmly by his
haja tino! E tutano” (idem, p.181). Thus, Zé
capitalist ideals. This also makes it back to
Pinto is what he has, he constructs him-
his past, questioning it. Just like in the be-
self to the other in a relationship of these
ginning of the story it is said, “All stores are
possessions. However, this relationship
remorseful”, by Carlos Drummond de An-
changes when the other also has access
drade, Zé Pinto’s one also makes the char-
to such possessions, which occurred be-
acter have any sense of guilt and distress
tween the 1960s and in 1970s.
in relation to whoever lived, which can be
Zé Pinto accumulated their cap-
verified only in the fact to revisit his past.
ital working hard with his wife as João,
lending at interest, and also, mortgaging.
Levanta-se, madrugada alta, coloca
However, with the government policy of
uma fita pornográfica no videocassete
granting credit, and with the advent of in-
e deixa-a rodar, rodar, até que a man-
dustrialization, the population increased
hã, com seus barulhos, o surpreenda e
their purchasing power and could buy the
a vida volte a girar, sem amigos, com-
items that Zé Pinto got first. As follows, the
padres, parceiros, nem ninguém para
social function of the character is lost. And
lhe fechar os olhos na hora em que a
to recall his past, it seeks to understand
indesejada encostar-se ao batente da
that your loss utilitarian for others, like an
porta para anunciar o fim
old object. Accordingly, such a character
(p. 186).
69
revista YAWP
In the end the story comes full
cio-historical relations gave the same
circle. Thus the capital accumulation re-
characteristics to the literary works.
lates to the lack of human relations and
When we look at our economic history
experience. All those lost experiences are
through the social and economic ascen-
re-affirmed, but it is too late.
sion of the characters João Romão and Zé
All the present analysis had the
Pinto, in different moments of our capi-
Claudio Guillén’s supranational b model.
talism, the works question the ways and
It was possible to notice that although
the politics that made those ascensions
with different time of history the so-
possible.
Y
Bibliography
Azevedo, Aluísio. O Cortiço. São
Paulo: Nova Fronteira, 2011.
Alonso, Angela. Idéias em movimento: a geração 1870 na crise do Brasil-Império. São Paulo: Paz e Terra, 2002.
Candido, Antonio. “De Cortiço
a Cortiço”. In: O Discurso e a Cidade. São
Paulo: Duas Cidades, 2004.
Fausto, Boris. História do Brasil.
São Paulo: Edusp, 2010.
Guillén, Claudio. “Tres modelos de
supranacionalidad”. In: Entre lo Uno y lo
70
Diverso: Introducción a la Literatura Comparada (Ayer y Hoy). Barcelona: Marginales Tusquets Editores, 2005.
Montello, Josué. Aluísio Azevedo e
a polêmica d’O Mulato. Rio de Janeiro: José
Olympio, 1975.
Nitrini, Sandra. Literatura Comparada. História, Teoria e Crítica. São Paulo: Edusp, 2010.
Ruffato, Luiz. “Um outro mundo”.
In: O Mundo Inimigo. Rio de Janeiro: Record, 2005.
Creative work
Simply Forgiven
Marcela Prado Siqueira¹
1 Undergraduate
student at
What is forgiveness?
A murder of what I cannot forget?
University of
Sao Paulo (USP)
email: marcela.
[email protected]
If I were as innocent as a kid
Wouldn’t I see beauty in the world and [forgive?
If I were as pure as an angel
Wouldn’t I see the truth in the words and [forget?
If I were as simple as breathing
Wouldn’t I feel warmth and peace and [forgive?
If I were as natural as tasting
Wouldn’t I feel flavors of joy and forget?
Now I know what forgiveness means
It is as eternal as dying
A part of me that forgets and dies to [forgive.
71
Compromisso
1 Undergraduate
student of English
Wanderley Corino Nunes Filho ¹
at University of
Sao Paulo (USP)
email: wanderley.
[email protected]
Ú
72
rsula acelerou o passo para pegar
Sabia que era inútil estudar minutos an-
o ônibus que estava parado metros
tes da avaliação. Sua idiota! – murmurou
adiante. Não fosse o peso excessivo de sua
- Você sempre deixa tudo pra última hora.
mochila repleta de livros, teria corrido. Não
Enfiou uma edição surrada de um
correra, perdera o ônibus e teria de aguar-
livro dentro da mochila. Havia adquirido
dar por no mínimo 20 minutos pela próxi-
-o em um sebo por mais da metade do pre-
ma condução. Lei de Murphy, pensou. Essas
ço. Mais do que pagar um preço acessível,
merdas só acontecem comigo! Decidida a
lhe atraía a ideia de possuir um objeto que
não desperdiçar tempo, resolveu comprar
já pertencera à outra pessoa, ainda mais
algo para comer e entrou na padaria. Dez
a um desconhecido. Por quantas mãos
mini pães de queijo e um sonho, por favor.
haveria o livro passado? Por que o dono
Pagou pelo pedido e enquanto retornava
anterior teria se desfeito dele? Teria acha-
ao ponto, engoliu rapidamente o desjejum
do-o ruim? Ou será que o dono falecera e
antes que viesse o próximo ônibus. Úrsu-
a família resolveu desfazer-se dos perten-
la indagava-se há quanto tempo não fazia
ces? Adorava se prender a esses detalhes
uma refeição sem pressa. No pain, no gain,
mínimos e valorizava ainda mais o livro
concluiu enquanto chupava o resquício de
se houvesse inscrito o nome do antigo
doce de leite sobre os dedos.
proprietário. Era como se possuísse não
Passados alguns minutos, perce-
somente o objeto, mas a pessoa em ques-
beu que as pessoas no ponto moviam-se
tão. Podia controlar a história, o passado,
ansiosamente; sinal de que o ônibus esta-
mesmo que numa brevidade temporal.
va chegando. Ao que o veículo estacionou,
Mais além, havia uma espécie de empatia
Úrsula tomou a dianteira da multidão,
por livros rotos. Remendos feitos grossei-
disposta a conseguir um assento. Rodou
ramente com fita adesiva eram cicatrizes,
a catraca, avistou um lugar vago e sen-
provas de como o livro havia lutado bra-
tou. Pelo menos vou conseguir estudar
vamente para sobreviver. Quem olhasse
tranquilamente antes do seminário. Lido
para Úrsula apenas com a visão não po-
o primeiro parágrafo, Úrsula percebeu
deria enxergá-la. Viver, para Úrsula, era
que não conseguia se concentrar. Talvez
sinônimo de sobreviver.
fosse a conversa de duas senhoras à es-
O toque do celular avisou o rece-
querda que estava atrapalhando. Talvez
bimento de uma mensagem de texto. Vou
fosse o barulho irritante de um casal que
me atrasar. Perdi a hora. Fala pra psôra
estava se beijando logo atrás. Talvez fos-
que vou me atrasar, belê? Bjos,
se alguém que estava a ouvir música no
Miriam. Oh, great! – pensou Úrsula
celular sem o fone. Abandonou a leitura.
– Pelo menos não vou passar carão sozinha.
creative works
Cerca de meia hora depois, Úrsula
cê-la. Sabia o que cada pessoa gostava de
percebeu que estava perto de sua parada
ouvir. Tinha necessidade de ter a atenção
e então dirigiu-se à porta. Deu sinal, des-
das pessoas — mesmo que isso significas-
ceu e caminhou sem pressa alguma pelos
se não expor o que realmente pensasse.
cinco quarteirões que a separavam da fa-
— Então vâmo logo acabar com
culdade. Um peido não é nada pra quem
essa porra – sugeriu Miriam. Tenho coisas
já tá cagada, murmurou. Odiava ficar sua-
mais importantes pra fazer depois.
da sempre que corria. Achou conveniente
— Como o quê? Curso de origami?
aguardar Miriam na entrada do prédio
Gargalhadas explodiam da boca
para entrarem juntas na sala de aula. Não
de Miriam. Seu riso era marcado por solu-
demorou muito para divisar a desgre-
ços compulsivos, o que a deixava corada,
nhada cabeleira da amiga. O volume dos
sem ar. Com o peito ainda arfando, disse:
cachos denunciava que a garota também
saíra às pressas.
— Deixa a Cris ouvir você dizendo
isso! Aliás, como é que você se tornou tão
— Eaê Mi! E essa juba que nem viu
venenosa? Vocês eram amigas, não eram?
pente hoje? Já não tá na hora de ir tosar,
— C’mon! You’re my fucking best
não?
teacher. Digamos que se estivéssemos em
— Ah, meu cu pra você! Que que
cê tá fazendo aqui fora? Não me diga que
a vaca da professora faltou e eu desloquei
minha beleza até aqui pra nada?
— Eu me atrasei também, tava esperando você pra subirmos juntas.
“Garotas Malvadas”, você seria a Rachel
McAdams e eu, a Lindsay Lohan.
—- Por que você tem que ser a mais
gostosa?
— E depois você pergunta de onde
vem a nossa fama de sapatas.
- Ai, como você é romântica! Olha
As duas subiram um lance de es-
que assim você reforça a fofoca de que so-
cadas e em seguida entraram na sala que
mos fanchas...
restava num profundo silêncio. Apenas
— Me dá um beijinho, amore! –
disse Úrsula fazendo biquinho.
uma voz masculina levemente nasalada
ecoava pelo ambiente. Sentaram-se então
— Como você consegue manter
perto da porta. Adquiriram esse costume
esse bom humor antes do seminário? Eu
no decorrer do semestre, pois facilitava a
tô cagando tijolos...
fuga depois de terem assinado a lista de
— Tô tão nervosa quanto você,
presença.
benhê. Não li nem metade do livro. É só
Logo que o rapaz terminou sua
a gente usar a estratégia de sempre: faz
fala, a professora disse em tom monótono
carão de eu-sei-o-que-estou-falando e
e desafiador:
repete tudo o que a professora falou em
aula. Basta dizer o que ela gosta de ouvir
e a gente garante nossa média. — Ao dizer isso, Úrsula sentiu uma pontada de
remorso, porém não o deixou transpare-
— Quem serão os próximos?
Úrsula levantou o braço. Esse ato
fez Miriam suar frio.
— Cê tá louca? Vâmo por último —
cochichou.
73
revista YAWP
— Eu sou ansiosa demais. Se eu esperar, tenho um troço.
As duas amigas se dirigiram à par-
seu caderno sobre a última apresentação.
te frontal da sala. Era visível o nervosismo
Sua boca desenhava um traço que indica-
de Miriam. Sua mania de enrolar as pon-
vam uma severidade. Aos olhos de Úrsula,
tas do cabelo com os dedos estava acentu-
aquilo significava uma coisa apenas: es-
ada por suas mãos trêmulas. Úrsula olha-
tou na lista negra.
va para um ponto fixo no fundo da sala
Miriam afundou-se na carteira e
quando começou a apresentação. Falava
pôs-se a mexer compulsivamente em seu
com uma confiança quase convincente,
celular. Úrsula lembrou-se de como tem-
sem pausas, quase sem respirar. Abrup-
pos atrás costumava recriminar mental-
tamente passou a palavra pra Miriam,
mente a amiga pelo vício em redes sociais
que não conseguiu evitar uma expressão
virtuais: “Qual o sentido de ficar online
cômica de terror, como se houvessem jo-
até as tantas? Ficar postando citações que
gado uma granada sem o pino em suas
se dizem ser da Clarice Lispector, isso sim
mãos. Miriam sempre fora mais indisci-
é cult, hein? Pra mim isso cheira a uma
plinada no quesito estudos que Úrsula.
tentativa desesperada de chamar a aten-
Não raramente dependia da solidarieda-
ção dos outros, como um constante exer-
de da amiga para livrá-la dos sufocos aca-
cício que certifica sua existência nesse
dêmicos. No entanto, naquele momento
mundinho medíocre.” Quem diria, hein!
estava desamparada: tinha de falar por si.
Agora você pode falar com pro-pri-e-da-de
Começou a falar em voz baixa um discur-
sobre a mediocridade humana e como é
so mecânico, decorado. Foi quando veio a
perder horas de sono e foco nos estudos
intervenção da professora:
por conta da internet. Medíocre e hipócri-
— Fale mais alto. Ninguém lhe
ouve.
74
Enquanto retornavam aos seus
assentos, a professora fazia anotações em
ta, isso sim é o que você é. Você se acha
superior aos outros, se acha melhor que
Miriam não suportava críticas.
seus amigos, mas não passa de uma vaga-
Não que fosse arrogante ao máximo. Ha-
bunda preguiçosa que não consegue cum-
via, na verdade, um quê de incapacidade:
prir os compromissos que arranja. Fraca.
não conseguia encontrar solução frente a
Isso mesmo, uma fraca!
um problema. Úrsula achava que a ami-
Tão absorta que estava em seus
ga era mimada demais pelos pais, o que
pensamentos, Úrsula demorou a notar
resultava numa preguiça sem medidas.
que a aula havia terminado. Saiu da sala
Conforto é para os fracos — pensou.
evitando qualquer tipo de contato com
Miriam retomou a fala visivelmen-
Miriam ou com qualquer outro conheci-
te abalada. Sua voz soou exageradamente
do: precisava urgentemente ficar só e em
mais alta, evidenciando uma gagueira
silêncio. A mais remota ideia de ter que
nervosa.
importantes,
responder a um “Oi, tudo bem?” irritava-a
confundiu termos específicos e concluiu
profundamente. Do que adianta pergun-
apressadamente.
tar-me se está tudo bem se ninguém se
Pulou
trechos
creative works
interessa de verdade em como estou me
parte do tempo em seu quarto, até mesmo
sentindo?
para fazer as refeições. Notava que seus
Entrou numa sala de aula vazia e
pais viam na filha uma completa estra-
jogou o peso do corpo sobre uma carteira.
nha e ela retribuía o sentimento. Consta-
Ficou a fitar a lousa branca, como se qui-
tou que entre os amigos, era o mesmo: a
sesse absorver o vazio do quadro. Estava
instituição familiar estava em vertiginoso
cansada de racionalizar. Outrora achava
declínio. Úrsula parou para aguardar o
que conhecimento lhe traria respostas,
fechamento do semáforo. Acesa a luz ver-
conforto, paz de espírito. No entanto, a
melha, Úrsula começou a atravessar sobre
extrema consciência não aliviara suas
a faixa de pedestres. Quando é que meu
dores: potencializava-as. Ok, sou uma
pai vai parar de fingir que minha mãe não
pooooobre vítima da civilização capita-
sabe que ele tem uma amante? Um carro
lista e machista. E daí? Estar ciente disso
que vinha em alta velocidade não parou
ajudou em alguma coisa? Não! Permane-
nem mesmo após ter feito o corpo de Úr-
ço a mesma garota sonhadora e estúpida
sula completar uma curva de 180º no ar.
de antes. Só os sonhos que mudaram. Se
O corpo estirado sobre o asfalto
antes minha vida se resumia a acreditar
atraía a atenção de curiosos. Conforme o
numa vidinha aos moldes dos romances
corpo esvaia-se em sangue, a respiração de
de Nicholas Sparks, hoje sou a trouxa que
Úrsula tornava-se mais escassa e esparsa.
acredita que pode mudar o mundo.
Sentia uma dor latente na boca – talvez
Mundo. A palavra ressoou pesada-
eu tenha perdido alguns dentes - e uma
mente sobre os pensamentos de Úrsula.
pressão aguda na cabeça. O sangue que es-
Olhou para o relógio e se deu conta que
corria do supercílio direito tingia parcial-
havia passado muito tempo desde que en-
mente de vermelho a visão que tinha dos
trara naquela sala. Precisava correr para
rostos a sua volta. No entanto, não sentia
não perder ônibus e ter tempo para engo-
mais nenhuma dor. Lentamente, deixou
lir o almoço antes de trabalhar. Enquanto
de ouvir as exclamações dos pedestres que
andava apressadamente para sair do pré-
a observavam. O mundo vermelho e nítido
dio em direção ao ponto de ônibus, Úrsu-
foi esmaecendo, dando lugar a um borrão
la ainda estava a refletir sobre sua vida.
negro. Não havia mais pressa.
Desde sempre se sentia desajustada onde
quer que fosse. Em casa, passava a maior
Janeiro/Fevereiro de 2012.
75
Selected Poems
Wanderley Corino Nunes Filho¹
Life in duotone
Calma, calma...
Não precisa ter
1 Undergraduate student of English at University of
Sao Paulo (USP) email: [email protected]
[pressa.
Sem precipitação,
sem grande
[agitação.
Pra que se afobar
quando já se
[sabe a direção?
Não há nada de novo, nada além do jogo
[que tentamos viver jogar e burlar
Somewhere
and I’m here
going somewhere dreams
against fears a battle so unfair.
As peças posicionadas e as regras
[ditadas... há como sabotar?
Um pouco de
[emoção nesse jogo sem ação.
Como numa partida de xadrez destino e eu:
[confronto entre reis. Como evitar o xeque[-mate?
Quem sabe, negociando um empate?
Conto de fadas
Quando pequena
mamãe me dizia:
“-Viva
[um conto de fadas! Não fique pra titia!”
Então cresci
e muito esperei
pelo
[príncipe no cavalo pra ser o meu rei
E o príncipe
se me viu, não sei Só sei que
Quero ser wireless (pá de cal)
Ai que bom seria se eu pudesse desplugar
[o cabo de alimentação! Sem obedecer
[aos teus comandos, testando minha
[própria configuração.
O amor que compartilhas
não passa de um
[‘cavalo-de-tróia’ como um ‘bug’ em meu
[sistema ERRO FATAL! - estou em paranóia...
Mas adquiri anti-corpos
e criei este
[firewall.
Agora de molho, em quarentena.
[Ctrl+alt+del: joguei uma pá de cal.
Não adianta me procurar deixei de ser
[hackeado. Redefini minhas preferências
[versão beta: atualizado.
A cobra que morde o
próprio rabo
Não me lembro do começo Me perdi
pelos meios
E o fim, não sei se busco
ou se evito.
76
[do cavalo um coice eu levei
De coração partido Cicatrizes por todo o
[lado Sacodi a poeira
Deixei pra lado esse
fado
Mas eis outro príncipe que não me
[esnobou Peguei meu melhor
e no
[calabouço trancou
Não sou idiota
como a Julieta
Matei o
[Romeu
que me fazia de besta
Quando pequena
mamãe me dizia:
“-Viva
[um conto de fadas! Não fique pra titia!”
Quando pequena
mamãe me dizia:
“-Viva
[um conto de fadas!” Mas fiquei pra titia
...e fui feliz pra sempre...
Sentimentolices
eu digo sentimentos e você: “tolices!” me
[deixe só
com minhas sen.ti.men.to.li.ces
Sobre um reino e uma janela
Alessandro Suenaga Wagner¹
Undergraduate
student of English
at University
M
I
era bem pequeno. Talvez não com toda
of Sao Paulo
(USP) email:
uitas coisas eu jamais suportei em
essa complexidade, mas eu pensei e logo
le.suenaga@
toda minha vida. Como por exem-
vi que me enganara.
gmail.com
plo, aquela arte – se assim posso dizer –
Alguns dizem que as pessoas têm
que os homens mais praticam e pelo qual
pleno poder sobre o seu próprio destino e
vivem se digladiando por ninharias, ás
se elas têm uma vida relativamente ruim
vezes nem isso. Lutam por um poder que
ou boa é porque escolheram este ou aque-
na realidade não existe... Sempre haverá
le caminho. Outros dizem que o meio con-
alguém mais forte que nós, por mais tolos
diciona o nosso comportamento e a vida
que sejamos, sabemos perfeitamente dis-
na sociedade. Não acredito em nenhum
so. No entanto cometemos uma série de
desses pensamentos. Ora, o livre-arbítrio
crimes por pura vaidade, por orgulho. Or-
é um gracejo; como que podemos compa-
gulho este que nos corrói e não bastando
rar dois indivíduos, sendo um deles rico e
isto, também corrompe o outro. Matar, os
o outro pobre? Um obviamente teria van-
senhores devem estar se perguntando se é
tagem sobre o outro e conseqüentemente
o que eu quero dizer com toda essa idiotice
seria menos suscetível a criminalidade,
até então. Matar... Qualquer animal estúpi-
por exemplo. E por outro lado o contexto
do pode matar, não é isso a que me refiro.
social não pode ser único fator determi-
Contar-vos-ei alguns casos para que podeis
nante para o caráter do ser, caso o contrá-
compreender um pouco da minha sina.
rio não veríamos pessoas medíocres per-
Sempre fui um sujeito covarde.
tencentes a uma classe abastada ou então
Cauteloso seria um bom atenuante, mas
gênios cuja origem é as massas. Pois bem,
diante das lembranças que me perse-
acredito que cada um possui uma essên-
guem, dos dias exaustivos, porém de in-
cia que influenciada por fatores externos
tensa monotonia, tentarei ser demasia-
formam juntos a nossa identidade. Na es-
do honesto. Parece até piada... Honesto...
cola e em casa aprendemos o silêncio; as
pff... E quando é que eu fui sincero até o
coisas que pensamos devem permanecer
momento? Provavelmente o que escrevo
trancafiadas em nossas mentes, enquanto
a vós, não passa de alienações de um ho-
isso, devemos reproduzir o que os demais
mem demente e vil. E o que me importa?
dizem. A questão é que todos possuem
Devem estar rindo de minha falácia como
características, dons, que nos são dados
todos os outros já fizeram outrora. Na mi-
a partir do nascimento aleatoriamente e
nha infância aprendi a ficar calado. Quem
o que mais repudio é o dom de discursar.
pouco ou nada fala não deve sofrer as do-
Discurso é coisa de gente impor-
res da vida, foi o que eu pensei quando eu
tante, os senhores devem estar exclaman-
77
revista YAWP
78
do indignados. Uma ova! Esses malditos
representação e transformação do mundo
usam esse recurso a seu favor, oprimindo,
pelo ser e, portanto, o contexto social a que
humilhando, cuspindo na cara dos mais
pertencemos constrói a nossa imagem pe-
fracos, independente de suas posições so-
rante os membros da sociedade.
ciais! E por que achais que tanto os odeio?
Qualquer tipo de discurso de poder
A resposta é simples: Sou um sujeito na-
que utilizemos estabelecerá uma imagem
turalmente fraco. Um pobre diabo que
de nós mesmos nas respectivas situações
além de não ter atingido nenhum objetivo
em que nos encontremos. E não necessa-
na vida, é um inválido esperando no leito
riamente o homem discursará através de
a morte chegar! Achais que por acaso os
somente um dos tipos que a pouco expus,
criticaria se pertencesse a seu grupo? Com
podendo usar dois ou até mesmo os três
certeza chegaram a um consenso que eu
ao mesmo tempo. Existem homens que
estou definitivamente discorrendo sobre
já nascem com habilidades discursivas,
os políticos, juízes, reis, ministros, gover-
ou seja, possuem o dom de dominar, ma-
nadores... Não é isso apenas! Os vermes
nipular pessoas. Posso, por exemplo, ter
como nós também possuem essa capaci-
grande habilidade no discurso lógico,
dade, no entanto em diferentes níveis.
mas ter pouca competência no discurso
Classifico os diversos discursos
emocional ou coercivo. Na vida, com a
de poder em três, semelhantes à retórica
convivência com outros seres humanos,
aristotélica, com algumas divergências.
aprendemos mesmo que minimamente,
O primeiro é o de cunho mais intelectual,
cada um desses discursos, já que a relação
no qual o indivíduo convence utilizando
dos homens é simplesmente uma disputa
argumentos lógicos, o chamado “Logos”. O
de poder, onde o mais hábil e o mais aben-
segundo tipo, denominado “Pathos” envol-
çoado, seja pelas características físicas ou
ve as emoções no discurso, onde o orador
pela posição social, consegue ascender de
conquista o coração do público, apelando
nível ou se manter nele.
para os seus sentimentos. Este eu chamo
Do meu apartamento através da
vulgarmente de “demagogia”, discurso
janela, consigo ver os transeuntes na rua.
mais recorrente no âmbito da política
Nunca tiverdes o desejo de entrar em
partidária e moralista. Por último eu con-
suas vidas? Pelo comportamento, pela
sidero o uso da coerção, da violência para
vestimenta e pelos traços físicos eu tento
persuadir e obrigar determinada pessoa a
imaginar para onde essa pessoa está indo,
tomar certa atitude pelo medo. Para Aris-
o que ela fará, quais são os seus traumas.
tóteles o terceiro meio de persuasão da
Isso nada mais é do que o passatempo
retórica seria o “Ethos” pelo qual o sujeito
de um velho louco. Observem aquele ser
formaria seu caráter ao outro, mostrando-
miúdo ali de uniforme... Deve estar vol-
lhe que tem autoridade suficiente para fa-
tando da escola; possui um olhar triste e
lar do assunto em pauta. Todavia, meus ca-
abatido; a camisa suja, abarrotada e seus
ros, não estamos apenas no âmbito da fala
traços rústicos revelam sua origem social.
ou da escrita. O discurso compreenderia a
Seu nome é Miguel. Doze anos, menino
creative works
taciturno, tem medo de se expressar. Tem
cima do outro, desferindo-lhe um soco. A
problemas em casa. Outro menino que
briga se inicia, o mais forte vence. Lançam
também tem problemas familiares o es-
justificativas como a velha URSS e os EUA
panca praticamente todos os dias. Isso faz
e guerreiam; cai o muro de Berlim e junto
sentido para os senhores? Ambos vêm de
com ele o corpo do derrotado. O público
um contexto semelhante, mas o que faz
ao redor incita o conflito. Querem sangue.
um tão diferente do outro? O menino que
Confesso que também apreciei o combate.
agride tem características que o fazem ser
Só faltou um balde de pipoca. Que pena
dominador, ele sabe inconscientemente
que eu apostei no homem errado. Justo o
desse fato e o utiliza em seu benefício. E
que eu achei que ganharia a briga, perdeu.
sabem o que ele ganha com isso? Absolu-
Não sejam moralistas! Cada um toma seu
tamente nada! Miguel, como eu, é natural-
partido! Os que consideraram que o ho-
mente fraco, não consegue utilizar direito
mem X tinha razão torceram por ele e do
a maldita ferramenta dos opressores, de-
mesmo modo com o homem Y. Isso em al-
magogos e intelectuais esnobes, que é a
gumas circunstâncias. E os que apoiaram
linguagem.
Hitler ou Stalin? Devo choramingar pelos
Vou tomar os meus medicamentos,
os senhores, por favor me dêem licença.
mortos? Não vale a pena resgatar um passado que não vivenciei, entretanto, podemos pensar que os alemães ou os russos
M
II
não tiveram muita escolha senão obede-
uito bem. Estou aqui há um bom
cer, não estou certo? Com a vigência de
tempo e nada aconteceu na rua...
determinado pensamento as pessoas não
Aliás, peço desculpas pelas minhas men-
puderam escolher suas posições. Nem
tiras... Não conheço nenhum Miguel e
nos dias de hoje temos liberdade plena na
inventei essa história toda. Parem de me
hora de escolha. E se pensarmos melhor
censurar, pois foi inevitável. Queria achar
as pequenas coisas de nosso cotidiano
um argumento numa coisa prática. Há!
não nos distanciam muito de tempos obs-
E para que? Para convencê-los, senhores.
curos como aqueles.
Caso desse certo eu abriria uma igreja ou
O que faríeis na situação? Eu? Acre-
formaria um partido político. É isso que
dito que gaguejaria de medo e tomaria um
me mata aos poucos...
soco na fuça. Não sou bom na violência,
Esperem! Que barulho foi esse?
muito menos na demagogia. Este último
Ouço gritos, tumulto, batida! Dois carros
é o tipo que mais abomino: Ai, “O meio
acabam de se colidir. Nada muito grave...
ambiente”; “a liberdade”; “a igualdade”;
Somente uns arranhões. Dois homens dis-
“o respeito”; “a honra” e blá-blá-blá. Com
cutem. Cada um com seu argumento:
dezenas de palavras de efeito milhares de
— Olha só o que você fez!
homens vão para a guerra por espontânea
— A culpa é toda sua, seu infeliz!
vontade. Emocionados, homens miserá-
Após tanta filosofia e demonstra-
veis doam quase todo o seu dinheiro a ins-
ção de civilidade, um deles parte para
tituições desprezíveis. Queremos provar
79
revista YAWP
para nós mesmos e para o outro o quanto
mais candidatos um teste de conhecimen-
somos melhores. Nunca vistes um sujeito
tos gerais. Não me sai mal e após a prova
ignóbil dando bagatelas aos indigentes?
os bem sucedidos foram conduzidos a
Ele não o faz por um sentimento sincero
outra sala onde fariam finalmente a en-
e sim por vaidade, uma vez que visa mos-
trevista. Chegou a minha vez e falei sobre
trar a todos que é um ser virtuoso. Dessa
minhas experiências que totalizavam
maneira construímos o nosso caráter, a
uma insignificância. O analista ouviu te-
fim de persuadir o próximo para que o di-
dioso e pediu para que o próximo falas-
ferente se torne igual e as oposições entre
se. Este era um moço alto e magro com o
o “bem” e o “mal” se tornem cada vez mais
semblante grosseiro e sério, mas ao falar
nítidas. Eu sou o bem e o outro é o mal,
mudou totalmente seu jeito, mostrando
assim se separam as distintas idéias de
graça e simpatia. Falou de toda a sua vida,
mundo e se atritam pessoas, famílias, reli-
de seus amigos, parentes, do que gostava
giões, partidos, nações, julgando-se deten-
de fazer e absolutamente nada de suas ex-
toras da verdade. Bom... Chega de tolices.
periências profissionais. Enfatizava sem-
Contarei um pouco da minha vida... Apos-
pre suas qualidades pessoais. Assim eu
to que muitos compartilham da mesma
observei que os candidatos contratados
experiência que eu e possivelmente me
eram sempre os retóricos, manipuladores
achem um fraco, lamentoso. Eu nunca o
da linguagem. Muitos eram arrogantes e
neguei, caros senhores, isto é fato. Conta-
até grosseiros para com o entrevistador,
rei brevemente para que não vos chateie.
porém quanto mais o eram parecia que
Eis a história de um verme.
este os apreciava. Enquanto isso, os fracos
e os feios, que revelaram polidez e certa
D
80
III
modéstia, foram eliminados, independen-
a minha infância nada tenho a dizer.
te de seus atributos e experiências. Pare-
Os anos passaram voando e quando
ceu-me tudo aquilo uma campanha polí-
percebi já estava fora do casulo inóspito
tica: Discursos comoventes conquistam
que é a juventude. Ainda era jovem. Aos
a aderência do povo. Além do mais, um
dezoito anos sentei-me na sala de espera
candidato não pode ser monstruosamen-
de uma entrevista de emprego. Quem não
te feio, uma vez que um sujeito asqueroso
tem berço tem que fazer por onde. Órfão
provocaria náuseas e péssima impressão
desde os catorze, vivendo sob a tutela do tio
à imagem da empresa ou da nação.
alcoólatra e vagabundo, tive que procurar
Voltei para casa. Passaram-se duas
trabalho ao atingir a maioridade, se não fa-
semanas e não consegui arranjar trabalho
lar dos bicos que fiz a partir dos quinze. Pe-
algum. Meu tio, cansado da minha para-
guei emprestada uma camisa branca, uma
sitagem, decidiu intervir ainda mais na
calça preta, e os sapatos do meu tio e fui à
minha vida. Possuía alguns amigos que
busca de sustento e independência.
trabalhavam numa loja e estes me indica-
Esperei por uma hora aproxima-
ram para o meu primeiro emprego como
damente, até que deram a mim e aos de-
estoquista. Não era um mar de rosas, no
creative works
entanto me acostumei com o serviço que
conhecimento da minha fraqueza e falta
pouco dispunha de interação com outras
de ação, eles me davam cada vez mais ta-
pessoas. Carregava, empilhava, mandava
refas. Os outros auxiliares conversavam,
recados sem muitas dificuldades. O proble-
tomavam café, passeavam pela loja, pois
ma não era o trabalho em si, mas sim meus
sabiam que eu faria tudo calado sem dar
caríssimos colegas... O estoque em sua
um pio sequer. Estava rodeado de gente
maioria era composto por gente bastante
corrupta e gananciosa. Precisava sair dali.
ignorante que só falava em vulgaridades.
Contudo eu gostava da loja e sempre tive
Entre eles falavam de uma maneira agres-
fé no mérito, isto é, que um dia ascenderia
siva, como se estivessem brigando sempre,
para um cargo melhor e menos venenoso
portanto me sentia deslocado naquele lu-
quando finalmente notassem a minha de-
gar de gente estranha e rude. Parecia um
dicação para com a empresa.
inseto perto deles... Mal notavam minha
Perdi minhas esperanças quando
presença e nunca tentaram conversar co-
eu completei quatro anos de serviço na-
migo; a não ser bem no comecinho quando
quele inferno e continuava na mesma po-
fizeram perguntas básicas do tipo: Qual é o
sição, com o mesmo salário, acrescentado
seu nome?; Quantos anos você tem?; Já traba-
de alguns reajustes ínfimos. Ao meu redor
lhou nisso antes? E quando percebiam que
os colegas já não eram mais os mesmos.
eu estava ali, debochavam do meu jeito e
Tinham arranjado emprego em outra
do meu físico que não era apropriado de
parte ou então ainda pior: mudaram para
forma alguma para aquela ocupação, di-
um cargo superior dentro da própria loja!
zendo em bom tom: Olha só o frangote! Não
Consumia uma tremenda raiva dentro de
tá aguentando não, filho? Vai trabalhar no
mim, mas nada podia fazer. Precisava do
escritório, que é mais a sua cara! Bem que eu
dinheiro por mais miserável que fosse e o
gostaria mesmo de trabalhar fora daquele
meu moralismo não me permitia reagir de
palco de horrores... As pessoas não vivem,
nenhum modo. E sabia que essas pessoas
elas atuam. É tudo pura politicagem!
estúpidas não progrediram por mérito. Fa-
Prestava muita atenção na conversa e no trabalho dos meus colegas. Ficava
ziam piadinhas, contavam histórias, riam
alto, bajulavam... Tudo isso me dava nojo!
admirado com o trabalho dos vendedo-
Certo dia a loja mudou de geren-
res. Não era gente muito inteligente, mas
te. Era uma senhora de seus quarenta e
apreciava o modo como falavam bonito
cinco anos que agora nos comandava e
e tratavam bem os clientes da loja. Eram
como todo chefe sua origem era desco-
muito diferentes dos ignorantes do esto-
nhecida para nós. Em outras palavras,
que. E neste mesmo momento, após ter
fora indicada para aquele cargo sem nun-
perdido dois anos da minha vida naquela
ca ter trabalhado ali. Assim que me viu
latrina, eu também observara que quanto
criou grande simpatia por mim, não uma
mais eu ralava duro mais eu era esma-
atração física, – como os senhores devem
gado. Sabia também que ninguém dava
estar imaginando – mas um sentimento
a mínima para o meu esforço e tendo
de compaixão, amizade com que o ser
81
revista YAWP
humano raramente demonstra de ma-
os bancos de madeira eram meu refúgio.
neira sincera. Seu nome era Glória e logo
Ali sempre lia alguma coisa, desde jornais
gostou do meu jeito. Às vezes temos umas
até literatura. Como podeis ver, apesar do
reações esquisitas mesmo. Ao avistar de-
meio repugnante onde fui criado, eu apre-
terminado indivíduo pela primeira vez
ciava uma boa leitura, quebrando total-
podemos ter uma série de emoções para
mente com a visão determinista que men-
com ele, como paixão, simpatia, dó e até
cionei a pouco. Ainda não estava escuro
mesmo ódio. Algum tempo se passou e de-
quando de repente vi um vulto e quando
cidi para meu próprio bem que a adularia.
percebi se tratava de uma mulher senta-
Fazendo uma aliança perfeita com essa
da ao meu lado. A primeira instância eu
mulher consegui finalmente mudar de es-
não entendi por que aquele ser fizera tal
toquista para vendedor e posteriormente
ato, uma vez que os demais assentos se
para subgerente da loja!
encontravam inteiramente livres. Voltei a
Agora sim eu era respeitado. Com
ler, mas de súbito tive uma sensação que
o salário novo pude alugar uma casa só
a criatura me olhava de forma fixa. Tornei
para mim e abandonar a pocilga onde
meus olhos para ela e no mesmo momen-
vivia com meu tio. Era uma casa bem pe-
to baixou o rosto timidamente, desviando
quena, o dinheiro que ganhava também
o olhar. Foi aí que eu vi o seu rosto puro
não era muito, no entanto eu tinha algo
e meigo, os olhos grandes e encantadores
que eu nunca sonhara em ter: poder. A ex-
traziam um sentimento de tristeza; seus
cessão da gerente e daqueles pertencen-
trajes revelavam simplicidade, o que a tor-
tes a mesma categoria que eu, cada um
nava ainda mais bela. Eu empalidecera e
daqueles funcionariozinhos medíocres
comecei a suar frio de nervoso. Perceben-
comiam na palma da minha mão. Podia
do o meu nítido transtorno ela se virou
esmagá-los da mesma forma que fizeram
para mim:
comigo!
“Imprestáveis!”
“Vagabundos!”
Palavras como estas formavam um voca-
— D-desculpe, senhor... Eu estou lhe
incomodando? — perguntou hesitante.
bulário absolutamente normal no meu
Quando falou comigo eu travei.
dia-a-dia. Tinha agora meu pequeno rei-
Não conseguia dizer uma só palavra, talvez
no. Contudo, de que adiantava eu ser um
de medo ou timidez. Após um breve mo-
rei no trabalho e toda vez que chegava em
mento de silêncio eu fiz um esforço e disse:
casa eu desabava em lágrimas. Precisava
— N-n-não... De modo algum.
de alguém para ficar do meu lado, com-
Afinal qual era a dificuldade nisso?
partilhar sonhos comigo e com isso ser
Não fora eu vendedor e agora não coman-
feliz. Precisava de uma família. Coisa que
dava um porção de subalternos? Engana-
de fato eu nunca tive...
va as massas com discursos demagogos e
os fazia levar produtos caríssimos ao qual
V
82
IV
não tinham dinheiro para comprar. Cada
oltando do trabalho eu sempre pas-
vez mais eu via os clientes se endividan-
sava por uma praça, cujas árvores e
do e mesmo cheio de dívidas compravam
creative works
mais e mais. Num tempo anterior sentiria
ças sobre nossos gostos, hábitos, manias e
asco de mim mesmo por ludibriar essas
também sobre nossas histórias. Lívia era o
pessoas, porém, cego pelo despotismo
seu nome. Vivia apenas com a mãe e tra-
e pelo lucro – que na realidade nem me
balhava como balconista em uma loja de
pertencia – eu fazia com muito prazer. Na
acessórios femininos. Também não supor-
verdade, agia conforme as leis do sistema,
tava suas colegas esnobes, muito menos
ou seja, não tinha escolha... Além disso,
das senhoras que compravam por lá. Não
lidava com gente grosseira, arrogante
possuía amigos, a única pessoa com quem
e falsa, mas como seria lidar com uma
se importava era sua mãe, mas cuja doen-
mulher? Nunca tivera essa experiência
ça avançara a tal ponto que não viveria
e neste instante ela veio como um tapa
mais do que um ano. Portanto Lívia fica-
na minha cara. Precisava falar com ela!
ria sozinha. Sempre foi sozinha e quando
Nem que fossem os assuntos mais torpes
me viu naquele dia finalmente encontrou
e esquisitos, eu queria criar uma imagem
alguém como ela. Não preciso dizer mais
positiva de mim mesmo para ela, nem que
o que aconteceu neste instante. Já se su-
fosse uma mentira.
bentende... Passaram-se alguns anos e nós
Por fim não consegui mentir e fui
simplesmente nos casamos...
eu mesmo: fraco e desajeitado. Ao menos
Não gosto dessa parte da história e
fui sincero. Achei que seria um tanto ina-
desse modo contarei o mais breve possível.
propriado se a abordasse perguntando
Não importam os detalhes! O desfecho é o
seu nome, entretanto o tempo se passava
mais importante... É a hora em que o fraco
e tive medo de que fosse embora e que
deixa de existir para se tornar forte.
nunca mais a visse. Falei a primeira coisa
que veio na minha mente:
— Moça... Por que você se sentou ao
meu lado?
Enfim... Alugamos uma casa maior
para nós e para o bebê que estava para vir.
Éramos iguais, IGUAIS, eu pensei e nada
poderia nos afetar, pois amávamos um ao
Eu mesmo fiquei espantado com
outro. Como qualquer casal as brigas sur-
a frase grosseira que acabara de pronun-
giram no começo, contudo foram apazi-
ciar. Encabulada, ela fez menção de se le-
guadas e nosso filho nasceu lindo e sadio.
vantar, mas eu a impedi.
Aquele pequenino ser nos uniria ainda
— Não! Quero dizer... Não quis ofendê-la. É que mal posso acreditar que... Err...
Não consegui terminar a fala, estava trêmulo. Seus olhos tristes agora mos-
mais e já não éramos mais dois infelizes
deslocados no mundo. Tínhamos uma família estruturada, meu reino, meu maior
tesouro.
travam grande comoção e seu rosto pálido
Os anos de casado não fizeram
corou quando eu a interpelei. Entendeu
bem para mim... Fui promovido a ge-
tudo o que eu não disse, como se compre-
rente de outra loja e lá pratiquei ainda
endesse meu olhar igualmente triste. O si-
mais a minha tirania sobre os meus ser-
lêncio se interrompeu e quando eu percebi
vos. Criou-se em mim um sentimento de
nós dois conversávamos como duas crian-
crueldade e superioridade em relação aos
83
revista YAWP
demais, já não era mais um homem e sim
lhida, chorando de ódio. Nada podia fazer,
um monstro. Com minha querida Lívia o
eu era muito mais forte... Não acreditei no
processo não foi diferente. De rainha ela
que fizera... Tudo agora fazia sentido! Que
virou uma mera camponesa maltrapilha.
diabo era esse que tinha o poder de truci-
Chegando em casa eu agia como um dés-
dar os outros e a si próprio?! Pedi perdão
pota, reclamando da vida medíocre que
de joelhos, chorei, supliquei para que me
levávamos e principalmente do maldito
desse outra chance. Ela com os lábios di-
choro do bebê que esperneava toda vez
zia que sim, mas seus olhos amargurados
que eu entrava pela porta da frente. Todos
me diziam “adeus”.
ao meu redor passaram a me odiar. Até
Uma semana se passou desde o
ele, tão pequeno já me detestava. Cum-
incidente e Lívia caiu em profunda de-
priam minhas ordens porque não tinham
pressão. Já não tinha mais forças para vi-
escolha. Eu queria impor meu pensamen-
ver... Certo dia pressenti que algo de ruim
to sobre ou outros e logo reparei que eu
aconteceria. Sai um pouco mais cedo da
e minha esposa éramos demasiadamente
loja e voltei a casa, mas era tarde demais...
diferentes e eu não podia suportar aquilo.
Abri a porta que dava para a sala de es-
Percebi que o olhar de Lívia, assim como
tar e estranhamente não ouvi o choro do
o meu, mudara totalmente. No fundo ela
bebê. Era um silêncio aterrador e o medo
conspirava, algum dia se libertaria da mi-
tomou conta de minha alma. Entrei no
nha coerção e esse dia não demorou mui-
quarto e meus temores haviam se concre-
to para acontecer.
tizado... Horrorizado cai de joelhos ao ver
Retornei ao meu reino familiar e
o corpo inerte de Lívia pendurado por um
como de costume, o bebê chorava e eu di-
lençol. Na cama jazia uma criança morta,
zia grosserias a minha esposa. Ouvindo o
estrangulada... Ao seu lado uma carta es-
barulho infernal e observando o ambien-
crita por ela destinada a mim. Não vou re-
te caótico em sua volta, seus olhos apáti-
velar-lhes o seu conteúdo! Minha esposa
cos se arregalaram e Lívia deu um grito
e meu filho estavam mortos! Isso já basta
ensurdecedor que ecoou por toda a casa.
senhores! Desci o corpo cuidadosamente
Fiquei desnorteado e ela correu para a co-
e o pus sobre a cama. Passei pela última
zinha trazendo junto a si uma faca para
vez meus dedos sobre seus cabelos... Eu
se vingar de toda a humilhação que eu a
que causara minha própria desgraça!
tinha feito passar.
Tenho plena consciência que Lívia fez
Você vai morrer seu desgraçado!!! —
berrou, se atirando contra mim.
84
aquilo porque não suportava mais o meu
egoismo e esta seria a única maneira de
Tentei desculpar-me, segurá-la,
me derrotar! Eu estava sozinho de novo...
mas tudo foi em vão. A raiva tinha domi-
Não me restava mais nada... Ela sabia que
nado o seu caráter dócil e agora ela se re-
eu era fraco demais e que não poderia fa-
belava contra o rei. No instinto lhe dei um
zer o mesmo. Aquilo tudo seria pior que a
golpe no estômago, o que fez ela cair enco-
própria morte...
creative works
E
V
do e chorando... Gosto de analisar suas
depois? Como seria a vida do rei após
vidas. Tento imaginar qual futuro lhes
a queda? A vida monótona e alienada
aguarda. Passo o dia ora lendo livros ou
se estendeu por longos anos. De que adian-
vendo os transeuntes na rua. Tento achar
ta contar o que vem em seguida? Não casei
explicações para o meu destino, para os
nem tive mais filhos. Entre a vida e a mor-
seres humanos, enfim, para o inexplicável.
te eu vaguei pelas ruas. Já não era mais
Já estou velho e a vista daqui de cima me
um homem e sim um ser desalmado que
parece cada vez mais atraente. Desejo um
não vive o presente nem projeta o futuro.
dia ter forças para que num impulso de-
As lembranças me corroem lentamente...
sesperador eu termine estirado em algu-
Não entendo a natureza humana. Não fui
ma calçada. Morreria como um indigente,
honesto convosco. Disse que não perten-
um nada. Quem dera eu ser uma árvore,
cia ao grupo dos fortes... Na verdade não
tranquila, calada. Talvez eu não sofresse
existe classificação nenhuma! Todos são
as dores da vida. Se Deus existe por que
fracos e fortes em relação a alguém, feri-
não me cede a morte?
mos e somos feridos, violentamos e somos
Todos os dias histórias como a
violentados. Eu que sempre me achei fraco
minha se repetem em diferentes lugares,
e tinha repugnância dos outros que exer-
envolvendo diferentes pessoas. A vida é
ciam tirania, me tornei o próprio tirano,
uma eterna repetição... Os vermes nos
um corrupto! Não julgo mais ninguém...
governam, sempre nos governaram. Nada
Todos são podres! A questão é a oportuni-
mais justo... Eu e os senhores somos iguais
dade de se parecer melhor para o outro.
a eles. Não sejam hipócritas! Não quero
Quando ela surge, nós a agarramos e nos
pensar em mais nada. Encerrarei este dis-
tornamos ainda mais podres.
curso. Espero ter vos convencido... Não su-
Gosto de ver as pessoas do meu
porto mais essa maldita existência!
apartamento, andando, conversando, rin-
85
Translation
Between Verisimilitude and Identity:
The Translation of Geographic
References in Films for Children
1 Undergraduate
Thaís Gomes Trindade¹
student of English
at University of
Sao Paulo (USP)
email: thais.
Abstract: Translations are necessary, sometimes creative, but they can also be
[email protected]
misleading. This essay will show how name of cities were translated from English to
Portuguese in three different movies - Lilo & Stitch (2002), Surf’s Up (2007) and The Princess and the Frog (2009). This essay brings an analysis of the relation of identity and
verisimilitude of these translations with the story shown and the real world references,
whether it is well built or faulty.
Keywords: translation, geographic references, films for children.
T
he world changes all the time. People are always creating means to express themselves and to be understood. In the nineteenth century cinema was created. In the
beginning, films had no sound; just actors’ actions were seen. There was no need for
translation. Those who had access to cinema would understand the scenes, expressions
and actions. After some development and improvement music was used. The aim of affirming a nationality and culture made the films begin to have more than music sounding. Legends were gradually adopted and inserted, they needed to be translated, as ‘the
mass’ public would not understand a foreign language. When actors had their voices
inserted in the films we came to the era of “Spoken Cinema”, which increased the necessity of translation. These changes were represented, for example, in the French movie
The Artist (2009).
Adults are the main public for films, directly or indirectly. Movies for children,
although called “for children”, are made, dubbed, translated by adults and chosen by
other adults as the movie to be watched by their kids. In the whole process we have the
adulthood interference or mediation. Therefore, we have a process of affirmation of
identity, through the clothes, cultural or even geographic references presented in movies. Such indirect information can be perceived by teenagers and adults, people who
might have a more developed critical view and knowledge, but the same would not happen with a child.
The first child films that have gone over a larger number of boundaries were produced by Walt Disney Studios. According to Disney website, Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs was the “first full length animated feature”, launched in 1937. It was successfully
watched and criticized all over the world, and after that, more films were produced
86
translation
and launched. Most of them are medie-
erences, besides the dubbing studios’ ide-
val “fairy tales” adaptations. “The Index
als aims and rules.
Translationum on the UNESCO website
Lilo & Stitch is a scientific-fiction/
mentions Disney, Blyton and Verne as
family film created by Walt Disney Stu-
the most translated authors of children’s
dios, launched in 2002, which is a story
books. The ubiquitous Walt Disney tops
of a Hawaiian girl, Lilo, who thinks that
the list.” (Ghesquiere, 2006:30) Most of
has a dog, Stitch, but in fact, he is an alien
these children stories that came from lit-
that falls on Earth (in Hawaii to be more
erature to full screen feature were medi-
precise). Nany, Lilo’s old sister, buys Stitch
ated by Walt Disney Studios, but we also
to the latter after her decision. At night, at
have other companies as Sony Pictures
Lilo’s home, on the first day she got Stitch,
Animation. Usually, these products are
he builds a city and a bridge with books
translated from English to Portuguese,
and toys and destroys it latter. The image
and rarely bring problems as regarding
of the bridge, its color and structure be-
dubbing.
sides how Lilo calls it is of great impor-
In translation studies, the domestication approach will tend to find simi-
tance. In the English-dubbed version Lilo
calls it “San Francisco”.
lar or equivalent national references on
San Franciso is located in Califor-
translating foreign ones; the foreigniza-
nia, USA, where there is a bridge known
tion, on the other hand, will use the same
in the whole world by its red structure, as
reference made in the original movie.
we can see in the film image of the bridge
These different approaches can be a sym-
build by Stitch.
bol of affirmation towards one identity
(baring in mind the idea of identity as a
compound of language, territory and culture altogether). Most Brazilian Studios
are carioca and their translations prime
for domestication rather than foreignization. Lilo & Stitch (2002), Surf’s Up (2007)
and The Princess and the Frog (2009), for
example, have geographic references
1. Stitch’s San Francisco Bridge
made towards the USA, but the Brazilian
version changes them to Brazilian references – carioca references are predominant. So, there is an attempt to affirm the
Brazilian identity through a foreign film.
It is one possible strategy, but it must be
carefully made. The translator working
with the film, his/her ‘text’, should reflect
on the public’s world knowledge and ref-
2. San Francisco Bridge.
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revista YAWP
These pictures are really similar,
despite one being a drawing, and the other, a picture. What this makes clear is the
use of real-world references in the film.
References about the Earth are always
produced. Here it is related to American
geography as we have Hawaii and San
Francisco which might be known by Lilo,
as she is American. The references are
3. Rio-Niteroi Bridge.
even reinforced by the images in the movie, which makes them verisimilar and co-
ing to Brazilian children that know the
herent in relation to the movie story and
Rio-Niteroi Bridge and have reached an
its development.
age and knowledge to compare it critical-
According to Aristotle’s Poetic, the
ly. On trying to domesticate foreign refer-
verisimilitude is the impression of truth
ences and to reaffirm nationality through
that a work might have. It must be care-
it, the translation was unfortunate, disre-
fully constructed attending to a necessity
specting the film scenes and the public’s
of the text, in such decorous manner that
critical view towards the studio attempt
might be seen as truth, being linked with
of emphasizing their region.
the whole text without failure. In this sense
the English-dubbed version is verisimilar.
88
A second analysis will approach
Surf’s Up, a film launched by the producer
But what about the Brazilian
Sony Pictures Animation in 2007. Cody
version? The Brazilian dubbed version
Maverick is the protagonist, a penguin
changes the “San Francisco” spoken refer-
surfer which wants to perform on Ha-
ence to “Ponte Rio-Niteroi”, which is a do-
waiian Islands. He lives in “Shiverpool”,
mestication of the text. The Studio wanted
a creative name that makes references
to affirm Brazilian nationality through
to “Liverpool”, and as it is located in Ant-
one ‘region’ (Rio de Janeiro) despite the
arctica, in the movie, the reference has
original source. Is the domestication veri-
an association with bad weather – “Shiv-
similar? Is it supported by the images and
er”. When Cody arrives in Hawaii, he
not interfering in the story coherence?
meets “Chicken Joe” who says that he is
No, it is not verisimilar and not even sup-
from “Sheboygan”, located in the Ameri-
ported by the images presented in the
can state Wisconsin. After greetings, an
movie. Below, there is a picture of “Rio-Ni-
image of “Chicken Joe” in Sheboygan ap-
teroi” Bridge. It is very different from San
pears. That first reference has influences
Francisco’s Bridge build by Stitch. It has
which would only be perceived by those
no red structure, there are just lampposts.
who know English, Liverpool and the
Although this alteration does not
meaning that “Shiverpool” creates. The
interfere in the story structure and com-
second one has a real-world value, but
prehension, it can cause a strange feel-
it is not a world-famous city. Those who
translation
Chicken Joe in Sheybogan, Wiscosin.
does not live or know Wisconsin may not
coherence, structure or comprehension.
know the city by its image presented in
Despite this good strategy of domestica-
the movie. However, in Sheboygan, Chick-
tion in translation, the second reference
en Joe is surfing, so we can see the wave
is “Sheybogan” translated as “pantanal”. It
and some trees.
could be done without harm to the pub-
The Brazilian dubbing tends to
lic, but the vegetation illustrated in the
domesticate these territorial names used.
fourth picture is not similar to Brazilian
So, instead of calling the first reference
pantanal. There aren’t opened seas and
as “Shiverpool”, the Portuguese dubs calls
waves in pantanal as it would be thought
Cody’s hometown as “Frio de Janeiro”. It
of with such image. Although it does not
is intriguing to observe that we still have
interfere in the story development, it may
a creative use of language towards name
affirm to children a faulty image of ele-
of cities and, also the mentioning of the
ments (landscape and vegetation) about
hard weather from Antarctica – shiver,
their own country – what is commonly
“frio”. Beyond that, the dubbing Studio
used by people on stating their identi-
preferred to reaffirm Brazilian identity
ty. Children that have never been to this
by their carioca identity and the men-
place or even seen it might create a wrong
tioning of “Rio de Janeiro”. This change
idea of how Brazilian vegetation is. This
shows how creativity can bring different
is still a domestication of the text, but it is
possibilities of translation towards a geo-
misled and harmful as can bring to chil-
graphic reference, which might help chil-
dren wrong ideas and images of their own
dren perceive the vividness of language
place.
and how we can adapt it for different
Finally, The Princess and the Frog
purposes, even for amusement or humor,
is a Disney adaption for full screen of
without interfering within the film story,
Grimm Brothers’ adaptation of the “The
89
revista YAWP
90
Frog Prince” fairy tale. It is animated and
the changes made did not affect the sto-
spread around the world, by Cinemas or
ry verisimilitude as, at first, the question
DVDs, for children. In Brazil, it was trans-
made by “Ray” is answered negatively
lated by the carioca studio “Delart”. In the
and, afterwards, his interlocutors explain
film, there are USA geographic referenc-
where they are from – which does not
es, such as “New Orleans”, “San Francis-
affect the rest of the film development.
co” and non-USA references, as “Maldo-
Concerning the public – children – this
nia” (the Prince’s Kingdom).
change will not affect the story compre-
It is possible to say that there are
hension. This might just catch the public’s
foreignization on “New Orleans” and “Mal-
attention and create a possible ‘identifica-
donia” references, as the last is not trans-
tion’ with this reference.
lated to possible equivalents connected
This shows the important role and
with Brazilian identity and the first one
influence translation have on its public.
have an adaptation of the first word “New”
Translations are necessary and import-
to “Nova”, but Orleans remains in its for-
ant for those who want to amuse them-
eign form – half domesticated, half foreign,
selves with foreign entertainment such as
in some sense. San Francisco appears in
movies. But the translator and Dubbing
the story when a firefly called Ray meets
Studios, as a mediator, a bridge in this
Tiana, Prince Naveen and Louis. When the
connection, must be concerned with and
insect hears Tiana and Naveen tongue, in
bear in mind verisimilitude, identity and
the original version, he asks them: “Are
the translation’s influence and impact on
you from San Francisco?” On the other
the public in order to avoid faulty iden-
hand, the Brazilian dub has it translated
tity affirmations or misunderstandings.
as “Are you from Copacabana?” The ref-
As the example from Lilo and Stitch and
erences are quite different. The English
Sheboygan’s from Surf’s Up shows, the af-
version affirms the American identity
firmation of national identity of a target
by using its own territorial references on
country through the image and transla-
dubbing, which might be known and rec-
tion of films from a source country, con-
ognized by American children. The Brazil-
cerning references which are not similar,
ian version tries to reach Brazilian public
may be harmful, in a sense it presents
and establish an effective communication
to children from this “target country” a
and identification through a carioca ref-
faulty connection of name of geographic
erence. Even if this is not known by chil-
references from their country to images
dren, it might be known by the parents
from other places which are not similar.
who might explain it or be entertained
This may confuse children who already
with it. The choice of Rio de Janeiro refer-
know these references, as a child that
ences has to do with the Studio’s identity
knows Rio-Niteroi Bridge can possibly
and location as carioca.
doubt her/his own knowledge or question
Independently of a range of inter-
the existence of more than one “Rio-Ni-
ests that led this translational decision,
teroi Bridge”. And those who have never
translation
been to this place may create an errone-
showing the vividness and playfulness of
ous idea of how it looks like, faithfully be-
language through references which nei-
lieving in such association. On one hand,
ther interfere in the story development
a translational decision besides being
or verisimilitude nor create a misleading
difficult and a creative act can be faulty
association of images, landscapes and to
influence; on the other hand, it can bring
names of real geographic references. And
to the public an affirmation of a country
if this does not have a positive impact
or a good time on humorous associations
on the public at least it does not mislead
as that of “Shiverpool”/“Frio de Janeiro”
them.
Bibliography
Y
Ghesquiere, Rita. “Why Does Chil-
The Princess and the Frog. Direction:
dren’s Literature Need Translation?” In:
Ron Clements and John Musker. USA: Walt
COILLIE, Jan Van; VERSCHUEREN, Wal-
Disney Pictures, 2009. 1 DVD. 97 min., son.,
ter P. Children’s literature in translation:
color. Translated by: Delart Studio.
challenges and strategies. St. Jerome Pub.,
2006. Page 30.
SAN FRANCISCO. Hyatt Regency Hotel. Height: 500 pixels. Width: 390
Lilo & Stitch. Direction: Dean De-
pixels. 60KB. JPEG format. San Francisco:
Blois and Chris Sanders. USA: Walt Dis-
2011. Color. Available at: <http://www.ams-
ney Pictures, 2002. 1 DVD. 85 min., son.,
net.org/sanfrancisco/img/sanfrancisco3.
color.
jpg>. Accessed on: November 03rd 2012.
Lilo & Stitch. Direction: Dean De-
LILO & STITCH. Walt Disney An-
Blois e Chris Sanders. Rio de Janeiro:,
imation. Height: 560 pixels. Width: 374
2002. 1 DVD. 85 min., son., color, dublado.
pixels. 47 KB. JPEG format. USA: 2002.
Translated by: Delart Studio.
Color. Available at: <http://findingmickey.
Surf’s Up. Direction: Ash Brannon
squarespace.com/disney-animated-fea-
and Chris Buck. USA: Sony Pictures Ani-
tures/lilo-stitch/8263523>. Accessed on:
mation, 2007. 1 DVD. 85 min., son., color.
November 03rd 2012.
Surf’s Up. Direction: Ash Brannon
PONTE RIO NITEROI. Height:
and Chris Buck. USA: Sony Pictures Ani-
609 pixels. Width: 502 pixels. 78 KB. JPEG
mation, 2007. 1 DVD. 85 min., son., color.
format. Color. Available at: <http://www.
Translated by: Delart Studio.
vejanomapa.com.br/wp-content/up-
The Artist. Direction: Michel Haz-
loads/2012/07/Ponte-Rio-Niter%C3%B3i.
anavicius. France and Belgian: Warner
jpg>. Accessed on: November 03rd 2012.
Bros, 2011. 1 DVD. 100 min., son., black
and white.
SURF’S UP. Sony Pictures Animation. Height: 1024 pixels. Width: 768
The Princess and the Frog. Direc-
pixels. 83 KB. JPEG format. Color. Avaible
tion: Ron Clements and John Musker.
on: http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/
USA: Walt Disney Pictures, 2009. 1 DVD.
z218/Elliotfangirl/Surfs%20Up/Chicken-
97 min., son., color.
Joe.jp Accessed on: November 03rd 2012.
91
Language and Education
Homeschooling: Why It Should be
Considered
1 Undergraduate
student at
University of
Cíntia Longuini Alves¹
Sao Paulo (USP)
cintia.alves@
Abstract: The number of families adopting home education to their children is
usp.br
rising around the world. Still, this method of education faces lots of critics and even the
prohibition of some countries. This work intends to clarify why home education should
be taken as a possible alternative of instruction and why the state should not be against
it. Based on previous academic researches, expert reviews and official documents, this
article analyzes some polemic points of homeschooling and the benefits of this method,
being useful for parents, teachers and interested in education in general.
Keywords: democracy; education; homeschooling; parenting; state
Introduction
I
n this article I shall defend the right of parents to choose the educational model they
think is most appropriate and profitable for their children. Based on previous ac-
ademic researches, expert reviews and official documents, I intend to go against the
dominant thinking that the school institution is the only reasonable option, undoing
some prejudice concerning homeschooling and showing its advantages and challenges
for today. The main purpose of this work is not to establish homeschooling as the best
and only way of education, but to claim that its execution is a perfectly possible alternative and that its right should be guaranteed and not obstructed by the state.
Although home education was a common form of education until the beginning
of the 20th century, today homeschooling is seen by common sense as a dangerous path
to go through. According to Daniel Monk (2004:12), school attendance today is perceived
as indispensable to childhood experience, so home education would be the robbery of
childhood and not just another form of education. But to label homeschooling as injurious to children is an oversimplification of the issue and to impose a universal concept
of what is the best for children.
Positions against home education and their vulnerabilities
T
he homeschooling trend emerged in the 1960s and 1970s in North America and
it has since been spreading to other parts of the world. Today, USA, UK, Belgium,
Austria, Ireland, Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and South Afri-
92
language and education
ca are some of the nations that permit the
sonality and to the strengthening of
practice of children being taught by their
respect for human rights and funda-
parents or another person in the family
mental freedoms. It shall promote un-
circle as alternative to traditional school
derstanding, tolerance and friendship
institutions, with different levels of re-
among all nations, racial or religious
strictions or regulating conditions. But
groups, and shall further the activities
countries like Brazil, Germany, Greece,
of the United Nations for the mainte-
Cuba and Turkey still deprive their people
nance of peace.
of making that choice.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose
The main reasons for this positioning against home education is gener-
the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
ally based on the idea that attendance to
a school is a right of all children and that
In other words, every child has
homeschooled children suffer with the
the right to education, not to school at-
lack of socialization. Also, Paula Rother-
tendance, and the choice of which meth-
mel (2005:74) calls our attention to the
od would be better for s/he should be of
fact that home educators are often ste-
parents. By banning home education, the
reotyped as eccentric, ignorant, fanatical
state takes to itself the parents´ authori-
religious or hippy by “concerned profes-
ty to choose the appropriate education
sionals and others who make statements
for the children. Monk (2004:7) reminds
based upon their beliefs rather than re-
us that sometimes “the parental right to
search”. This prejudiced view caused by
home educate is not simply a private mat-
the lack of information is also one of the
ter of individual choice but has a broader
reasons for homeschooling to be frowned
political significance to the extent that it
upon.
is an essential part of democracy”. In a
The fact is that Article 26 of the
world post-WWII, protecting individuals
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
from the state is extremely necessary to
(1948) states that:
avoid the emergence of totalitarian regimes, such as the Soviet regime or the
1. Everyone has the right to education.
Nazi regime, which had a centralized con-
Education shall be free, at least in the
trol of education.
elementary and fundamental stages.
Socialization is also a very im-
Elementary education shall be com-
portant issue because if a child is not ad-
pulsory. Technical and professional
equately socialized, s/he won´t be able to
education shall be made generally
make contributions to community. Ac-
available and higher education shall
cording to Anthony Giddens (2006:163),
be equally accessible to all on the basis
“socialization is the process whereby the
of merit.
helpless infant gradually becomes a self-
2. Education shall be directed to the
aware, knowledgeable person, skilled in
full development of the human per-
the ways of the culture into which he or
93
revista YAWP
she was born.” Banning homeschooling
faith, distrust societies belief/values, we want
because it is harmful to children´s social-
to be with our children, child shy/demand-
ization is the same that declaring that
ing, not suited to school, and others. In the
only institutional schools are reasonable
end, Rothermel divides the motivations in
agents of socialization, which is a fallacy.
two groups: those relating to experiences
When a child is home educated s/he will
with school and those related to family
not be restrict to a school environment,
ideology. These answers indicate a great
with people of her/is age only, but s/he
concern of homeschooling parents with
should be encouraged to have contact
their child welfare and their character
with people of all ages and social contexts.
formation. This kind of parents cannot be
This contact can be made in the familiar
dealt as eccentric or ignorant by having
environment, in the neighborhood, in as-
these assumptions when choosing their
sociations, in sports centers and even in
children’s education. Also it is import-
daily activities places, such as a supermar-
ant to notice what Rothermel claims in
ket or a bank. This different form of so-
her article: homeschoolers are not a ho-
cialization is very profitable for children if
mogeneous group and religious families
done properly, because children will learn
or New-Age families did not necessarily
the rules and traditions of their commu-
home educate their children because of
nity actively and closely to their families.
their religious beliefs or spiritual lean-
Thus, to be in touch with others would not
ings but both groups have the desire to
be a sudden rupture for the children, but a
have control over their children´s educa-
natural and serene process.
tion, which particularly is remarkable in
Regarding prejudice against ho-
a world where parents and children are
meschoolers and their stereotypes, Ro-
increasingly distant from each other due
thermel´s research (2005: 79-81) about
to the lack of quality time together.
motives for home education gives us important data. The research is based on the
analysis of questionnaires answered by
419 home education families in the UK.
The question “What motivated you to
home educate?” was answered by a third
of the parents (30.77%) with disappoint-
94
Others advantages of
homeschooling
H
omeschooling is also advantageous
due to other reasons. The curricular
freedom is one of the most cited benefits,
ment with education and schools. Other
because it enables the teaching of differ-
parents (29.17%) said it was because of ide-
ent subjects using empiric methods, with
ology or they always intended to home ed-
a flexibility that is not found in a school-
ucate. Parents also cited bullying (25.32%)
room. At school children are required to
and their child´s depression or stress caused
reach a common pattern of knowledge by
by a school experience (24.04%) as a moti-
the same methods and at the same time,
vation to homeschooling. Other answers
which ignores each child as an individual
appeared, such as standards of morality &
with different characteristics and poten-
language and education
tials. According to homeschoolers, it is the
By providing an investigative atti-
curriculum that must adapt to the needs
tude, homeschooling is seen as a promot-
of the student, and not the way round.
er of auto didacticism because, gradually,
In this way, it is easier to personalize a
homeschooled children cease to see their
homeschooled child curriculum because
parents as their only instructors and seek
s/he receives an individual instruction
knowledge by themselves, achieving the
that respects her/his own rhythm, which
real interdependence of adult’s age, as
makes of it a great method to educate chil-
stated by Schebella (2010). This inclina-
dren with special needs.
tion for research develops the capacity
According to Schebella (2010),
of intellectual production, which is desir-
ex-pedagogical director of ANED (Asso-
able in every society. Martin-Chang (2011),
ciação Nacional de Educação Domiciliar),
author of a Canadian study about home-
home education also makes the learning
schooling, claims that children homes-
process more natural, because it occurs
chooled by a structured program outper-
without changing children´s daily rou-
form their public school colleagues. She
tine, locus or role of the involved subjects.
concludes in an interview at Concordia
Parents are already recognized by chil-
University website that “structured ho-
dren as authorities. When they become re-
meschooling may offer opportunities for
sponsible for teaching, it is not a complete
academic performance beyond those typ-
break in the natural order, but a continu-
ically experienced in public school.”
ity of the process. In this view, children´s
Another benefit of home education
home, a usual and secure place, becomes
is that it could be in accordance to par-
the “place of the knowledge”, allowing
ents´ philosophical and ideological views.
parents to adapt the instruction accord-
The fact that parents decide what kind of
ing to the pupil´s routine and necessities.
view their children will receive is frowned
In homeschooling all the family is in-
upon by some critics, because it would be
volved in the education process, nearing
an imposition and would not permit chil-
its members while transmitting to chil-
dren to choose their own world view. But
dren the notion of routine and its rules,
this argument reminds us of what Monk
responsibility and the differences of roles
(2004:3) says about “how the rights claims
of each one in the family according to
of parents and children can be used to
their activities. Thus, homeschooled chil-
mask public interests”. Schebella (2010)
dren are prepared by their own families
alleges that the teaching process is always
to deal with life in a society. It is necessary
partial, because it invariably transmits
to affirm that the familiar relations are
the values and principles of the teacher
essential to form the children´s charac-
or of the educational system. In other
ter, but it is not exclusive and, of course,
words, both home and school system of
parents should present to their children
education will transmit values, the differ-
other situations of socialization, as previ-
ence is on who is going to determine what
ously mentioned.
will be transmitted. Of course homes-
95
revista YAWP
choolers defend that this task belongs to
education they think is most appropriate
parents, inquiring that if it is dangerous
for their children. The issue is not about
allow parents transmit their own views to
denying the application of traditional
their own children, what would make it
schooling, but to guarantee the parents´
less dangerous to let this task to a school
right of choice, as it is said in Article 26
or the state? By homeschooling, these
(3) of the Universal Declaration of Human
parents allege they can avoid problems
Rights (1948).
such as a premature sexual education or
This work has addressed some im-
political indoctrination to their children,
portant points of homeschooling method
which is a very reasonable point if we
and has shown us that its implementation
have in mind what the American Conven-
is possible. What is not possible when it
tion on Human Rights (1969) has settled in
comes to education is to establish a fixed
its Article 12 (4): “Parents or guardians, as
formula and apply it in a generalized way.
the case may be, have the right to provide
Each child is unique, with different needs
for the religious and moral education of
and cultural backgrounds, and the kind
their children or wards that is in accord
of education chosen must respect that. It
with their own convictions”.
means that child´s peculiarities will define the type of education that is best suit-
Conclusion
96
ed to her/his formation of intellect and
The increase of homeschooling
character. It is important to highlight that
nowadays is a fact coped in different
homeschooling is not the solution for the
forms by countries. While some of them
chaotic situation of public education in
allow the practice of homeschooling and
most countries. As any kind of education,
even elaborate laws to improve the imple-
what will make of homeschooling a suc-
mentation of this method, others forbid
cess is the commitment and dedication of
it, depriving parents to choose the kind of
those involved in this process.
Y
language and education
References
American
Hu-
Kunzman, Robert. Understanding
man Rights - Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica.
homeschooling: A better approach to reg-
(1969). Retrieved September
ulation. Theory and Research in Education,
from
Convention
on
28, 2012,
<http://www.oas.org/dil/treaties_
7(3): 311-330. 2009.
B2_American_Convention_on_Human_
Rights.html>.
Martin-Chang, S., Gould, O. N., &
Meuse, R. E. The impact of schooling on Desjardins, Sylvain-Jacques. Struc-
academic achievement: Evidence from
tured homeschooling gets an A+. (2011,
homeschooled and traditionally schooled
September 8). Retrieved September
28,
students. Canadian Journal of Behavioural
<http://www.concordia.ca/
Science/Revue canadienne des sciences du
2012,
from
now/what-we-do/research/20110908/
comportement, Vol 43(3), Jul 2011, 195-202.
structured-homeschooling-gets-an-a.php>.
2011.
Fonseca, Patrícia. E se, em vez de
Monk,
Daniel.
Problematising
ir à escola, o seu filho estudar em casa?
home education: challenging ‘parental
Visão. (2012, June 1). Retrieved September
rights’ and ‘socialisation’. Legal Studies 24
28, 2012, from <http://visao.sapo.pt/e-se-
(4), pp. 568-598. 2004.
em-vez-de-ir-a-escola-o-seu-filho-estudarem-casa=f667878#ixzz2ApO4hIZW>.
Giddens, Anthony. (2006). “Sociali-
Rothermel, Paula. Can we classify
motives for home education? Evaluation
and Research in Education, 17(2)(3). 2005.
zation, The Life-Course and Ageing”. In:
Schebella, Fabio Stopa. Benefícios
Sociology (p.163). Cambridge: Cambridge
da Educação Domiciliar. (2010). Retrieved
Polity Press, 2006.
September 28, 2012, from <http://www.
Home-Schooling: Socialization not
aned.org.br/index.php?id=bed>.
a problem. Washington Times. (2009, De-
The Universal Declaration of Hu-
cember 13). Retrieved September 28, 2012,
man Rights. (1948). Retrieved September
from http://www.washingtontimes.com/
28, 2012, from http://www.un.org/en/doc-
news/2009/dec/13/home-schooling-so-
uments/udhr/index.shtml
cialization-not-problem/
97
Learning American English: Difficulties
in Pronunciation
Caroline Guarda Francisco Dau¹
1 Undergraduate
student at
University of
Sao Paulo (USP)
email: caroline.
Abstract: When learning the English language, one of the major problems that a
[email protected]
Brazilian student faces is the difficulty in pronouncing the words correctly. This happens
because of the different use of the articulatory system by each language: the American
English has much more sounds than the Brazilian Portuguese, being eleven vowels and
twenty-four consonants against seven vowels and nineteen consonants. This contrast
happens because the words in English have fewer syllables than the ones in Portuguese,
so there must be a greater variety of sounds for them to be distinguished. Another issue
that makes the learning process of English difficult for a Brazilian student is the correlation between pronunciation and writing, since there is almost no correlation between
them in English, whereas in Portuguese it is almost total. There are also differences in the
accent and rhythm of each language: while Portuguese has only three types of stressed
syllable and its rhythm is syllable-timed, English has at least five types of stressed syllable
and its rhythm is stress-timed. The purpose of this article is to identify some phonological
differences between the languages; to explain the difficulties that a Brazilian student has
in the learning process and to give some suggestions for the improvement of it.
Keywords: pronunciation, ESL, phoneme, English teaching, phonology, difficulties
Introduction
E
very language has its features according to its origin and history. Both English and
Portuguese have come from the same stock: Indo-European, but, due to their differ-
ent trajectories, now they differ a lot from each other, with the exception of a few words
that are alike.
The differences that occur between these languages not only do happen in structure and vocabulary, but also in phonetics and phonology. Each language has a different
usage of the articulatory system and, therefore, they have specific phonemes. This fact
is one of the reasons why the major problems in learning a language remain in the
pronunciation.
A person who speaks only one language believes that the sounds produced by
him or her are the only ones possible. This idea interferes in the learning process of the
student, because one will be based on his or her own phonemes and, therefore, will not
recognize the sounds of the foreign language the way they actually are.
Although English and Portuguese have some similarity in vocabulary – mainly
in writing –, pronunciation is very different in each language. While Portuguese has
98
language and education
seven vowels and nineteen consonants,
and to give some suggestions for the im-
American English – which is the language
provement of it.
variety that will be used in this article –
The references that will be used
has eleven vowels and twenty-four con-
for this article are Schütz (2008), Junior
sonants. This contrast happens because
(1985), Gimson (1970), Jones (1966), Avery
the words in English have fewer syllables
(1995) and Mazurkiewicz (1976).
than the ones in Portuguese, so there
ciation and writing: in Portuguese, the
1. Differences between languages
and difficulties in the learning
process of English
1.1 Correlation between writing and
pronunciation
oral interpretation of each word is clear,
According to Junior (1985), the writing sys-
that is, the pronunciation of the written
tem is derived from speech. In fact, chil-
language is very similar to the oral one. In
dren usually learn the pronunciation of
English, this correlation does not happen:
words long before the spelling. Junior adds
it is and very irregular and not clear, as
that “languages often exist for hundreds of
we can see, for example, with the graph-
years before they are reduced to writing”
eme “i”, that can represent six different
(p. 218) and “all widely used spelling sys-
sounds, as in the words machine; bit; bite;
tems are more or less irregular, and it must
noise; pencil and fruit (Schütz, 2008).
be admitted that English spelling may well
must be a greater variety of sounds for
them to be distinguished.
Another contrast between the languages is the correlation between pronun-
There are also differences in the
be the most irregular of them all” (p. 219).
accent and rhythm of each language: Por-
The oral interpretation of the words
tuguese has only three types of stressed
spelled in English is highly unclear. Its writ-
syllable and its rhythm is syllable-timed,
ten system exists for more than a thousand
in which each syllable is pronounced
years and, although the pronunciation of
clearly. English, however, has at least five
English has changed, its writing has not,
types of stressed syllable and its rhythm is
making the spelling increasingly irregular
stress-timed, which results on a compact-
(Gimson, p. 2). Besides that, the developers
ness of the syllables.
of English written form did not want this
Due to all those phonological
language to have a phonetic regularity:
differences between the languages, the
learning process of English as a foreign
they have been much concerned with
language in Brazil is difficult and it takes
having a spelling that would reveal
a long time for the Brazilian learner to
something of the history of words and
recognize all the differences. The purpose
their relationship to other words. For
of this article is to identify some phono-
example, the b in debt /dεt/ serves as
logical differences between the languag-
an indication that it is derived from
es; to explain the difficulties that a Bra-
the Latin debitum, though it results in
zilian student has in the learning process
an irregular spelling. (Junior, p. 219).
99
revista YAWP
Avery (1995) gives us some exam-
en. It happens because English has a large
ples of this irregularity in the spelling
number of words with only one syllable;
system, mentioning, for example, that the
it is a very compact language. Therefore,
same sound may be represented by dif-
it requires a great number of vowel pho-
ferent letters, such as two, threw and shoe,
nemes, so it would distinguish one word
which have all the sound /u:/. One sound
from another through pronunciation.
can also be represented by combinations
This great quantity of vowel
of letters, such as “gh” and “ph”, which
sounds requires hearing accuracy, so the
have the /f/ sound. Another irregularity
speaker would be able to recognize and
is that different sounds can be represent-
produce the sounds correctly, which is
ed by the same letter, such as the letter a,
very difficult for Brazilian learners be-
which has five vowel sounds, as we can
cause of the discrepancy between the
see in make, math, all, any and sofa.
languages when it comes to quantity of
However, in Portuguese, the pro-
vowel sounds. “The higher the number
nunciation of the written language is
of vowels, the more subtle the difference
very similar to the oral one. For example,
among them will be” (Schütz, 2008).
there are seven phonemes and five letters
A usual mistake made by ESL stu-
that represent the sounds. It makes the
dents is the substitution of one vowel for
correlation clear, constant and regular.
another. Junior (1985) states that the causes
Therefore, an ESL (English as a Sec-
of it are that (i) the learner pronounces the
ond Language) Brazilian student finds a
letters the way they would be pronounced
great difficulty when learning how to spell
in one’s native language; (ii) the irregular
and to read words in English, since one
spelling of English deceives the student;
comes from a very regular spelling lan-
(iii) one cannot identify nor reproduce two
guage to a very irregular one. That is one
different sounds either because one does
of the reasons why pronunciation is so
not have them or there is no distinction be-
important during the learning process of
tween them in one’s native language.
English: if one tries to study only through
According to Schütz (2008), a mis-
reading, one will not learn the right pro-
take that is made by Brazilian learners is
nunciation of the words, due to its irregu-
the non-distinction between sounds, such
larities. According to Mazurkiewics (1976),
as the phonemes / iː / and / ɪ /, that are
English has a sound-spelling correlation
produced by the learners as / i /, so there
of 12 to 13 percent, which is a very low per-
would not be any differences between
centage, in fact, the lowest one.
words such as leave and live. The phonemes / æ / and / ɛ / are both perceived
as / ɛ /, so the pronunciation of the words
1.2 The vowels of English and
Portuguese
100
bad and bed would be noticed as the same.
/ uː / and / ʊ / are pronounced as / u /,
According to Schütz (2008), English has
so there would not be any distinction be-
eleven vowels and Portuguese has only sev-
tween fool and full.
language and education
1.3 The consonants of English and
Portuguese
Schütz states that English has twenty-four
so the use of the supporting vowels makes
it more comfortable for the ESL Brazilian
student to pronounce them.
consonants and Portuguese has nineteen.
The phonemes / ð / and / θ / also
Again, the former language has more pho-
do not exist in Portuguese, so the speaker
nemes than the last one and it also caus-
tries to replace the first one by / d / and the
es difficulties for the Brazilian learner to
second one by / f /, / s / or / t /. It also caus-
pronounce them all, since Portuguese does
es miscomprehension of words like math
not have some of English consonants, so
[mæθ] and think [θɪŋk], which may be pro-
the ESL student would make the replace-
nounced as Matt [mæt] and sink [sɪŋk].
ment of one consonant for another.
Schütz also cites that Portuguese
Schütz says that one of the mis-
does not always have the retroflex / r /, so
takes that is made by the learners is, for
it is usually replaced by the phoneme / x /
example, the lack of aspiration of the
in word-initial position. This substitution
voiceless stops / p /, / t / and / k /, since
neutralizes the contrast between words
there is no such device in Portuguese. It
like hair [hɛər] and rare [rɛər].
may cause misunderstanding, because
these sounds without proper aspiration
could be perceived as / b /, / d / and / g / by
the native speaker of English.
1.4 Word-Stress, Sentence-Stress and
Rhythm
Another mistake made by Brazilian
In English, the most important syllables
learners that is highlighted by Schütz is the
of a word stand out among the unimport-
pronunciation of the sounds / t / and / d / be-
ant ones. Hence, stress is a very important
fore / iː / or / ɪ /: in most part of Brazil, there
feature when learning it. If a word is pro-
are no / tɪ / or /diː/ sounds, so the speakers
nounced with the wrong stress, it is very
tend to pronounce / tʃɪ / and / dʒɪ /, caus-
hard for people to understand what was
ing misunderstanding and neutralizing the
said (Junior, 1985).
contrast between words like tick and chick.
Junior (1985) adds that, when a syl-
Another very common error com-
lable is unstressed, its vowel usually has
mitted by ESL students that Schütz indi-
one of the following sounds: / ɪ /, / ʊ / or / ə /.
cates is the tendency to add a supporting
The most neutral and frequent vowel is
vowel to the end of words that end with
the schwa / ə /, because it is automatically
stops, affricates and fricatives, such as
produced by speakers, since their speech
like [laɪk] and word [wərd] , which are pro-
organs are relaxed, so it is easier to be
nounced as [ˈlaɪkɪ] and [ˈwərdʒɪ]. As we
made. It happens because native speakers
can see, a syllable is added to the term and
do not think that it is worth making effort
it can cause misunderstanding in words
in the pronunciation of unstressed sylla-
like Ed [ɛd], which would be pronounced
bles. Since there are more unstressed than
as edge [ɛdʒ]. It happens because these
stressed syllables, the sounds / ɪ /, / ʊ / and
kinds of words do not exist in Portuguese,
/ ə / are the most frequent in English.
101
revista YAWP
Junior cites a common error com-
a thought group; (ii) weakening unstressed
mitted by ESL learners, which is the pro-
words and syllables, and obscuring the vow-
nunciation of unstressed vowels the way
els in most of them; (iii) organizing words
they are spelled, that is, instead of pro-
properly into thought groups by means of
nouncing [əpærəntlɪ] (apparently), it is said
pauses; (iv) blending the final sound of each
[æpærɛntlɪ], for example.
word and syllable with the initial sound of
In English, the stress of a sentence
the one following within the same thought
is as important as of a word. According to
group; (v) fitting the entire sentence into a
Schütz, it is a stress-timed language, that is:
normal intonation pattern.
(Its) rhythm is based on stressed syllables of certain words that occur at apparently irregular intervals when we
look at the written sentence. The rows
of in-between unstressed syllables
Conclusion
A
fter this reflection about the differences in pronunciation between
Portuguese and English, many difficulties
tend to be compressed and some sylla-
in the learning process of an ESL Brazil-
bles can almost disappear. This means
ian student were found and commented.
that the amount of time it takes to say
These problems happen due to the dif-
a sentence in English depends on the
ferent use of the speech organs that each
number of syllables that receive the
language makes and to the dissimilar
primary sentence stress (Schütz, 2008).
features of them. There are many English
phonemes that do not exist in Portuguese,
In contrast, Portuguese is a syllable-timed language, in which:
making the acquisition of them very hard
for the Brazilian learner, and, therefore,
causing the phenomenon of vowel and
(Its) rhythm of speech is based on the
consonant substitution, which causes
syllable, taking each syllable a simi-
misunderstanding in the communication.
lar amount of time to be pronounced.
Another contrast that was cited in
Therefore, the amount of time to say a
this article was the correlation between
given sentence depends on the number
writing and pronunciation, which is very
of syllables, and contractions rarely
irregular in English and regular in Portu-
occur. […] each syllable is distinctively
guese. A person who studies the former
and clearly pronounced, timing the
language only through reading will prob-
flow of the language (Schütz, 2008).
ably have many problems in pronunciation. In order to avoid this issue, there
102
Junior (1985) illustrates the difficul-
should not be an early contact with an En-
ties of obtaining a good rhythm in English,
glish text; the learner should always be in
dividing them into five parts: (i) giving
touch with the oral form of the language
proper emphasis to stressed syllables, and
through a teacher, a friend and, especially,
making them recur rather regularly within
a native English speaker. It would help the
language and education
student to understand and to pronounce
clearly separated, so a Brazilian learner
well the words that one reads. Besides,
has difficulty to speak English the way
one would also learn the right pronunci-
native speakers do. Again, it is crucial to
ation of the term, decreasing the mistakes
listening to an inborn English speaker, so
caused by vowel and consonant substitu-
one would be more familiar with it.
tion. It demands practice and attention to
the native speaker’s speech.
For the ones who are teaching English, it is very important to pay attention
Rhythm, word-stress and sen-
to the students’ pronunciation, correcting
tence-stress were also discussed in this
their mistakes since the beginning, so it
article. These features are very import-
would be easier for them to face those
ant to English: there are no boundaries
common problems when they meet them.
between the syllables, so this language is
A teacher should not let a student speak
set through its rhythm and stress. On the
wrongly; he or she has to insist on the
other hand, Portuguese has the syllables
right pronunciation.
Bibliography
Avery, P. and Ehlich, S. “Spelling
__________. (2008). Os Fonemas
and Pronunciation”. In: Avery, Peter and
Consoantes do Inglês e do Português. En-
Ehrlich, Susan. Teaching American Pro-
glish Made in Brazil [Online]. Available:
nunciation. Oxford: Oxford University
<http://www.sk.com.br/sk-conso.html>
Press, 1995, p. 03-09.
[Accessed 20 May 2013]
__________. (2008). A Correlação
Gimson, A. An Introduction to the
Pronunciation of English. E. Arnold, 1970.
Jones, D. The Pronunciation of En-
Ortografia x Pronúncia. English Made in
Brazil [Online]. Available: <http://www.
sk.com.br/sk-interfer.html> [Accessed 20
glish. Cambridge, 1966.
Junior, C. and Robinett, B. Manual
May 2013]
__________. (2008). História da
of American English Pronunciation. Saun-
Língua Inglesa. English Made in Brazil
ders College Publishing, 1985.
Mazurkiewicz, A. J. Teaching about
[Online]. Available: <http://www.sk.com.
br/sk-enhis.html>. [Accessed 16 June 2013]
Phonics. New York: St. Martin’s, 1976.
Schütz, R. (2008). Diferenças de
__________. (2008). Ritmo e o
Pronúncia entre Inglês e Português. English
Fenômeno de Redução das Vogais em Inglês.
Made in Brazil. Available at: <http://www.
English Made in Brazil [Online]. Available:
sk.com.br/sk-pron.html>
<http://www.sk.com.br/sk-reduc.html>.
[Accessed
20
[Accessed 04 June 2013]
May 2013]
__________. (2008). Os Fonemas Vo-
O período pré-românico (2006).
gais do Inglês e do Português. English Made
A Língua Portuguesa. [Online]. Avail-
in Brazil [Online]. Available: <http://www.
able:
sk.com.br/sk-voga.html>
pt_2.1.php> [Accessed 16 June 2013]
[Accessed
20
<http://linguaportuguesa.ufrn.br/
May 2013]
103
Is there a Space for English Literature in
Brazilian High School Curriculums?
Jonathan Renan da Silva Souza¹
1 Undergraduate
student of English
at University of
Sao Paulo (USP)
email:jonathan.
Abstract: Literature has a wide and complex role in the upbringing of high schools
philia@gmail.
students, and Literatures of English-speaking countries can help improving this forma-
com
tion. This paper has the purpose of discussing the problem of the literary text in class,
focusing the presence or absence of the foreign literatures. Other important issues are
the role of teachers, the problem of the subject, the problematic of cultural knowledge
and the reading practice. The object of study is the government policies and textbooks.
Keywords: Literature, Teaching, Foreign literatures.
A
fter some years of hard study at University, a lot of English students in Brazil feel
disappointed about the use of English Literature in their careers. This situation is
not exclusive of English but it is more relevant, considering the importance and necessity of this language. Society as a whole agrees about it; however, the curriculums are not
open to Literature from the English speaking countries.
In this paper my intention is to show that it is important and possible to include English Literature in High Schools Curriculums without causing any problem to
the subjects and contents that are already established. To defend this perspective I will
bring some ideas and considerations of William Cereja, from his book Ensino de Literatura. Also, I will present some examples of common textbooks used in classrooms. In
the end the intention is not to overvalue English or its role but to propose a way of im-
2 Pelo diálogo
entre textos de
diferentes épocas,
proving the upbringing of students in Literature and maybe help the language learning
process, concerning cultural aspects.
autores, línguas e
William Cereja (2005) devotes his book to a discussion towards possible approaches
culturas, alunos
to the teaching of literature. His reflection includes the concept of dialogismo which is taken
e professores
estariam
from Bakhtin’s thought. His justifications can be summarized in this excerpt:
mergulhados na
possibilidade de
Through the dialogue among texts of different times, authors, languages and cultures, stu-
compreender
dents and teachers would be drowned in the possibility of understanding the past and the
o passado e o
present, or the presence of present in a text from another time. (2005: 8) [my translation] 2
presente, ou
a presença do
presente num
texto de outra
época.
Reading Situation
One thing cannot be ignored in the teaching situation nowadays. The presence
or absence of other languages’ cultures and the literature teaching are important details, but the state school in Brazil still faces a precarious and worrying environment.
104
language and education
And even if data proves an increase in the
The conclusion here is that even
indicators about reading, for example, we
if teachers have problems motivating
know that a lot of students avoid the read-
students to read, their responsibility and
ing practice. So, we have the distance be-
role are still relevant. And as Candido
tween students and the books. Although
(2002) points about the role of literature
in the last few years the government has
at schools in terms of formation, teachers
given the schools some more “attractive”
have to be aware of their space creating a
books, sometimes these books do not
repertoire of reading, because in this pro-
reach the students because of the difficul-
cess they can totally “conquer” students
ty in managing schools libraries, among
or “distance” them away from the already
other reasons.
distant books.
If we insist on going deeper into
this set of problems, we find the discussion
about the literary culture which “we have”
or “do not have” or “we are constructing”.
About this, Soares (2004) has given good
ideas, developing concepts as letramen-
The Subject Problem
I
t is impossible to discuss the possibility to include foreign literatures in
high schools without contextualizing the
to literário. Thereby the “literary culture
problem of the role of Literature – which
problem” is something that has direct re-
in the last few years has taken space.
lation with the historical context – mainly
Since the period of military dictator-
the last century – and political policies.
ship, the government policies began to
focus on the practical and technological
intention of the teaching. This propos-
Role of Teachers
A
al corresponded to the development of
nother interesting point that Cere-
Brazilian economy. After some time, in
ja takes from his practical research
this decade, the government decided to
done in schools – public and private – in
change the policies radically. Literature,
São Paulo city is that teachers have an
Portuguese Language, Foreign Languages,
important role indicating and giving di-
Spanish, Art and Physical Education are
rection to the choice of students about
included in a big area called “Languages,
books and reading habits. He observed 4
Codes and their Technologies”. As we see
schools and one of the questions which
in Perrone-Moisés (2006) the concept of
guided his research was “When you read
Literature is losing space, the discussions
3 Primeiramente,
literary works, are they in general…?” and
are vague and Literature, strangely, was
destaca-se o papel
67,5% of total answered “The ones that
put in the “reading” category. These and
da escola como
teachers recommend”. From this the au-
other points have direct consequences in
agente formador
thor indicates: “Firstly, I highlight the role
the teaching practice as they regulate the
of schools as a formation agent of readers
production of textbooks, the attitude of
and of literary taste.” (2005: 22) [my trans-
teachers and give direction to important
lation] 3
national tests such as ENEM. 4
de leitores e do
gosto literário.
4 Exame
Nacional do
Ensino Médio.
105
revista YAWP
The situation that is presented is
ernment policies, the development of text-
that Literature itself is being forgotten and
books, the formation of teachers and the
reduced in curriculums. Perrone-Moisés
practice of teaching itself. The inclusion
argues that this is not only a Brazilian
of foreign literatures depends on this. Be-
problem, situating also the French and Por-
sides, Brazilian and Portuguese texts have
tuguese case. So, a question could remain:
also lost their space which has to be re-af-
in the end, is this discussion worthless? – If
firmed. Mainly considering the generic
Brazilian Literature is endangered, foreign
texts that have been substituting the liter-
literatures would be much more. Actually,
ary texts: summaries, internet comments
our discussion is, due to this entire envi-
and interpretations, and vestibular focused
ronment, more opportune and relevant. In
approaches, only to mention some.
a globalized world, which dictates educational policies, questions and problems as
“global vs. local identity”, “cultural knowledge”, “wide formation of students”, surely
the foreign literature dilemma is included.
An alternative way to start
A
nother forgotten situation is that
the teaching of Foreign Literatures
can also open doors to introduce some
difficult books of Brazilian/Portuguese
History or Literature teachers?
F
ollowing Cereja and looking closely
Literatures making them easier or more
interesting to have contact with.
at literature lessons, some problems
A simple example can make this
are noticed, and each of them has impli-
idea clear. Some scholars as Helen Cald-
cations in the teaching and learning pro-
well (2002) bring closer the important
cess. We want to point a few: The focus on
works Dom Casmurro by Machado de
“History of Literature”. Teachers use the
Assis and Otelo by William Shakespeare.
time of classes to talk about the periods,
Firstly, most teachers as we will see next
esthetics, authors, but the literary text is
neglect the knowledge produced in the
forgotten. This is not something new and
academy circle. Actually, in many cases it
embora circule
teachers are aware of that. As the author
is not their fault because the access to the
nas aulas de
says: “It is sure that although the litera-
studies is not total, but the internet has
literatura
ture lessons circle a didactic speech about
been turning it possible.
5 É certo que,
um discurso
the literary, almost always in them the
Anyway, the point that is relevant
literário, quase
literary text itself is barely explored and
is that teachers could do this approxima-
sempre nelas o
experienced by students.” (2005: 11) [my
texto literário
translation] 5 And this worry about teach-
tion which surely will improve the lesson and contribute to the view about
the literary work. It would situate
Machado in a tradition and clarify his
influences not to overvalue the “origin”. And it also would show how the
genius writer continues an important
didático sobre o
propriamente
dito é pouco
trabalhado e
vivenciado pelos
alunos.
ing the historical background makes
teachers more “History teachers” rather
than Literature ones.
The conclusion is that this situation has to be changed, but it involves gov-
106
language and education
literary thematic (love and jealousy)
in which area he left his great and
expressive legacy. We could imagine
some justifications to this situation.
For instance, lack in the formation
of the teacher, lack of interest, inadequacy of textbooks, difficulty to manage all the possible approaches to the
teaching of Literature.
Actually, it is not impossible to
insert this kind of study. In fact, some
teachers are not used to working with
comparative approach; however, an
activity like this would improve and
go deeper in the literature ways. And
from this point, other arts like cinema
could be included, making a huge net
of connections that students would
befit from and their upbringing too.
Indeed, a lot of important and relevant
the influences that authors and books
receive are also important and relevant
even more in the Brazilian panorama – a
country that was colonized and it is still
building its own culture.
About the cultural profits of teaching foreign literatures, Perrone-Moisés
gives her contribution:
About the specialization in foreign
literatures, it does not constitute necessarily a separation from Brazilian culture
because this is the result of assimilation
of many foreign subsidies (…) And the
good literature is, by definition, universal.
(2006: 28) [my translation] 6
A look in the Policies
T
6 Quanto à
especialização
em literaturas
estrangeiras, ela
aking a look at the policies that the
não constitui
Brazilian government established for
necessariamente
state teaching we can see the space that
um afastamento
da cultura
knowledge from the academy is neglected
an intended “wide” formation gives to
in the historic method, mainly consider-
other nations’ literatures. The Orientações
esta é fruto da
ing studies about the texts themselves and
Curriculares para o Ensino Médio (2006)
assimilação de
their relations. So, almost all the compar-
make only one comment in the section
ative studies are put aside by teachers and
that concerns the choice that teachers
textbooks, and the university research
have to make about what they will teach.
boa literatura
continues distant from schools.
It says: “Nothing prevents, and it is desir-
é, por definição,
able, that literary works of other nation-
brasileira, porque
muitos aportes
estrangeiros
(...) E porque a
universal.
alities – if this correspond to the necessi-
Culture and Relations
F
ollowing the ideas from Candido and
ties of the curriculum of your school – be
also selected”. (2006: 74) [my translation] 7
Auerbach and other scholars, teach-
ers and textbooks production cannot
forget that the books have relation with
the Literature tradition – not only with
the historic and social events. This does
7 Nada impede,
e é desejável, que
obras de outras
Textbooks
C
oncerning the didactic material, a
brief research of two common text-
nacionalidades,
se isso responder
às necessidades
do currículo
de sua escola,
books used in Brazil helps to discuss the
sejam também
esthetics teaching are essential, but that
present direction of the teaching. The
selecionadas.
the world of culture and their relations
first is the collection of books published
and connections cannot be hidden. So,
by Cereja & Magalhães: Português Lingua-
not mean that the literary schools and
107
revista YAWP
gens: Volumes 1, 2 and 3 of 2010. These
These two situations clearly show
three books, one for each year of high
the problem that we are trying to point
school, substitute the only-one edition
and discuss here. There is an exaggera-
used for many years in state schools since
tion about the importance or about the
the end of 90’s. The other is a new work
necessity for students to know in detail
by Faraco & Moura – Português Projetos:
all the Brazilian and Portuguese litera-
only-one edition of 2009 – that is starting
tures. The literary works find in classes a
to be chosen by teachers now.
very small space, in most cases they just
First of all, it is important to make
appear to provide exercises or to be an ex-
a distinction between the citation of a
ample of a literary esthetic. Considering
book and a work, such as exercises or dis-
that the textbooks lead and sometimes
cussions made about the book or a chap-
determine the way that the classes are
ter or even about an excerpt. In the two
given, we have a very poor educational
objects of analysis, the first and second
proposal. It is evident in the collection
textbooks of the collection of Cereja &
of Cereja & Magalhães that Edgar Allan
Magalhães and the textbook of Faraco &
Poe has a privileged place, because the
Moura, the English-speaking origin books
authors make different connections with
are just mentioned, indicated as a possi-
Poe, mainly between the gothic esthetic
ble reading, or as other literary works re-
and the short-story tradition. In fact, Poe
lated to some issue.
appears more than any English-speaking
Beginning with the first volume
And
still there is a significant dependency on
books of English-speaking literature that
the French tradition and literature, as the
go from the popular Harry Potter series by
poets and novelists of France appear a lot.
J.K. Rowling and The Da Vinci Code of Dan
With Faraco & Moura the situation
Brown to the classical Romeo and Juliet by
is more problematic because we do not
William Shakespeare and Moll Flanders of
even have citations. Shakespeare and Tolk-
Daniel Defoe. The second volume has 22
ien were genius but they do not represent
references of books and some just of writ-
themselves the entire English-speaking lit-
ers. Some examples of books are Moby
erary tradition. The authors deliberately
Dick of Henry Melville, Tom Jones of Hen-
put aside the whole tradition of foreign lit-
ry Fielding and some books and short-sto-
erature as it does not exist and they place
ries of Edgar Allan Poe; and as mentioned
the Brazilian and Portuguese literatures as
writers there are William Shakespeare
independent and distant of any influence.
and Oscar Wilde, for example.
The textbook has its good features as the
On the other hand, Faraco & Mou-
inclusion of a contemporary view but this
ra in their entire textbook make only two
absence is symptomatic of an educational
citations of English-speaking writers:
position that does not have to be accepted
Hamlet of William Shakespeare and The
without a long discussion.
Lord of the Rings series of J. R. R. Tolkien.
108
writer even Shakespeare himself.
of Português Linguagens, it mentions 16
language and education
Conclusion
Then the authors include an ex-
n their methodology section, Cereja &
I
cerpt of the PCN+ as a way to reinforce
Magalhães discuss the proposal of a
this idea, but actually the text of the poli-
dialogical teaching practice. About this
cy is dark and obscure making even more
“presence” of foreign literatures they say:
difficult to understand this desirable
This dialogical perspective does not
presence which is not real in the curric-
fit in the narrow limits of an extreme
ulums and textbooks. Their discussion is
nationalistic conception of teaching
interesting as a new point of view, which
that admits just the Brazilian or Lu-
intends to relate different literatures, re-
so-Brazilian literary text as an object of
alities and cultures. And finally they bring
teaching. The dialogues in the areas of
Bakhtin to affirm that the text has to be
culture and literature transcend geo-
put in the “great temporality”. So we see
graphical and linguistics borders. It is
that the issue is still open to discussions
not about depreciating our traditions,
mainly considering the cultural impact,
our culture, nor our ethnic and linguis-
the role of teachers and textbooks and the
tic formation. On the contrary, it is to
space that the literary text has nowadays
persecute the dialogues of our litera-
in the classrooms.
ture in itself or with other literatures.
Finally this gap of reflections
It is comprehend it better and respect
about this polemic topic again contrib-
it in its historicism, in its particular
utes to this current environment in
characteristics and its differences, in
which textbooks lead the classes, teachers
its movements of pure subservience
do not think about their practice and its
and imitation or in its revolt about
consequences and students have small
the foreign culture. (…) The studies are
significant contact with the literary text,
open also to incorporate texts of for-
national and foreign. In fact, the space for
eign writers which contributed to de-
foreign literatures in high schools curric-
fine the ways of our literature. (2010: 7)
ulums is just another – but crucial – detail
[my translation] 8
in the complex problematic of literature
teaching in Brazil.
Y
8 Essa perspectiva dialógica não cabe nos limites estreitos de uma concepção ufano-nacionalista de ensino,
que admita apenas o texto literário nacional ou luso-brasileiro como objeto de ensino. Os diálogos no âmbito
da literatura e da cultura transcendem fronteiras geográficas e linguísticas. Não se trata de desprestigiar nossas
tradições, nossa cultura, nem nossa formação étnica e linguística. Ao contrário, perseguir os diálogos realizados
por nossa literatura no interior dela mesma ou com outras literaturas é compreendê-la melhor e respeitá-la em
sua historicidade, em suas particularidades e diferenças, em seus movimentos de pura subserviência e imitação
ou de revolta em relação à cultura estrangeira. (...) Os estudos se abrem para incorporar também textos de autores
estrangeiros que contribuíram para definir os rumos tomados por nossa literatura.
109
revista YAWP
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