Treason, opportunism, and rebelliousness:

ahistorical reading of Calabar

Authors

  • Lucas André Berno Kölln Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.48075/rlhm.v18i32.29640

Abstract

This paper proposes a historical reading of the play Calabar –O elogio da traição, by Chico Buarque e Ruy Guerra, written between 1972-1973, dedicating special attention to the various political meanings attributed to treason. Through dramatic resources, didascaly, and the portrait of several characters, Calabar’s act of treason is put in perspective along the play’s text, creating circumstancesthat allow an ambiguous view of his actions, and which lead, eventually, to a certain inversion of his political value: from traitor to hero. At the same time, this inversion changes the meaning of the other characters’ actions, gradually revealing them as resigned and even opportunistic individuals. The paper’s proposition is to reflect about the manner in which these aesthetical and political choices were historically grounded in Brazilian military dictatorship experience, and deliberately transformed in anachronism, suggesting therefore analogies towards the military regime opponents of the time and also towards its more discreet supporters.

Author Biography

Lucas André Berno Kölln, Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná

Doutorando do Programa de Pós-Graduação em História Econômica da Universidade de São Paulo

Published

24-01-2023

How to Cite

BERNO KÖLLN, L. A. Treason, opportunism, and rebelliousness:: ahistorical reading of Calabar. Journal of Literature, History and Memory, [S. l.], v. 18, n. 32, 2023. DOI: 10.48075/rlhm.v18i32.29640. Disponível em: https://e-revista.unioeste.br/index.php/rlhm/article/view/29640. Acesso em: 11 jul. 2025.

Issue

Section

DOSSIÊ TEATRO LATINO-AMERICANO CONTEMPORÂNEO: MEMÓRIA E TESTEMUNHO