O auto da compadecida: memory, identity and imaginary in intersemiotic translation

Abstract

O Auto da Compadecida, a film directed by Guel Arraes, in 2000, is an intersemiotic translation of the dramatic text by Ariano Suassuna, produced in 1955. This research discuss the articulations between imaginary, memory and identity in the context of the cinematographic narrative. In this proposal, the verbal, visual and sound languages presented in the film is analyzed, considering the connections with important themes as identities and memory, aspects that lead us to complex reflections on expressive instances which are revealed as performances of a culture translated in imaginary landscapes. Methodologically, the text is based on the principles of Comparative Studies of Literature, according to which artistic texts, in permanent dialogue, are treated in their singularities. This bibliographical research, with an interdisciplinary mark, is based on Julio Plaza’s conception of intersemiotic translation. The soundtrack’s approach is defined by Murray Schaffer’s soundscape studies. The analytical method is adopted for the critical reading of verbal, visual and sound material, consisting of linguistic, imagery and melodic construction, image creation techniques, instrumentation, and the use of sound effects and orality in the cinematographic narrative. Among the results, we enphasize the aesthetic quality that is revealed in the hybrid way in which the languages are articulated in order to point out the images of the northeastern landscape as a place of cultural memory, from which local, regional and national identities are discovered.

Keywords

• tradução intersemiótica
• memória
• identidade
• imaginário
• auto da compadecida.