Torture and electricity in the military dictatorship: an environmental perspective
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2023 |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | por |
Título da fonte: | Matraga (Online) |
Texto Completo: | https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/matraga/article/view/72421 |
Resumo: | Since torture started being systematically used against political dissidents by the military dictatorship that ru- led Brazil from 1964 to 1985, its depiction in films and literary works has underscored one of the most common modalities of torture in the period: electroshock. I argue that, even though torture by electroshock demands a relatively small amount of energy, whether from electrical appliances or manually generated by cranks, the representation of electricity as always and necessarily excessive constitutes one of the most paradigmatic forms through which its presence becomes symbolically visible in the cultural production of the Anthropocene in the second half of the twentieth century. This paper reads scenes of torture by electroshock as typical of the Great Acceleration, which relies on a steady supply of electrical energy, in order to investigate how narra- tives of torture by electroshock allow for a renewed reading of this corpus from an environmental standpoint. I focus on two works from the late 1960s and early 1970s in which torture breaks into narratives in an abrupt fashion: Lygia Fagundes Telles’s novel Girl in the Photograph (1973) and Júlio Bressane’s film Killed his Family and Went to the Movies (1969). |
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Torture and electricity in the military dictatorship: an environmental perspectiveTortura e eletricidade na ditadura militar: uma perspectiva ambientalTortureElectroshockAnthropoceneNarrativeGreat Acceleration.Since torture started being systematically used against political dissidents by the military dictatorship that ru- led Brazil from 1964 to 1985, its depiction in films and literary works has underscored one of the most common modalities of torture in the period: electroshock. I argue that, even though torture by electroshock demands a relatively small amount of energy, whether from electrical appliances or manually generated by cranks, the representation of electricity as always and necessarily excessive constitutes one of the most paradigmatic forms through which its presence becomes symbolically visible in the cultural production of the Anthropocene in the second half of the twentieth century. This paper reads scenes of torture by electroshock as typical of the Great Acceleration, which relies on a steady supply of electrical energy, in order to investigate how narra- tives of torture by electroshock allow for a renewed reading of this corpus from an environmental standpoint. I focus on two works from the late 1960s and early 1970s in which torture breaks into narratives in an abrupt fashion: Lygia Fagundes Telles’s novel Girl in the Photograph (1973) and Júlio Bressane’s film Killed his Family and Went to the Movies (1969).Desde que a tortura passou a ser usada sistematicamente contra dissidentes políticos pela ditadura militar que governou o Brasil de 1964 a 1985, sua representação em filmes e obras literárias destacou uma das mo- dalidades de tortura mais comuns no período: o eletrochoque. Defendo que, embora a tortura por eletrocho- que consuma uma quantidade relativamente pequena de energia, seja a proveniente de aparelhos elétricos ou gerada manualmente por manivelas, a representação da eletricidade como algo necessariamente excessivo constitui uma das formas mais paradigmáticas pelas quais sua presença se torna simbolicamente visível na produção cultural do Antropoceno na segunda metade do século XX. Este artigo lê cenas de tortura por eletrochoque como típicas da Grande Aceleração, que depende de um fornecimento constante de energia elétrica, a fim de investigar como as narrativas de tortura por eletrochoque possibilitam uma nova abordagem de tal corpus por uma perspectiva ambiental. Concentro-me em duas obras do final dos anos 1960 e início dos anos 1970 em que a tortura irrompe nas narrativas de forma abrupta: o romance As meninas (1973), de Lygia Fagundes Telles, e o filme Matou a família e foi ao cinema (1969), de Júlio Bressane.Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro2023-02-24info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionartigo de literaturaartigos de literaturaapplication/pdfhttps://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/matraga/article/view/7242110.12957/matraga.2023.72421Matraga - Revista do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras da UERJ; v. 30 n. 58 (2023): Miscelânea; 163-178MATRAGA - Journal published by the Graduate Program in Letters at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ); Vol. 30 No. 58 (2023): Miscelaneous; 163-1782446-69051414-7165reponame:Matraga (Online)instname:Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)instacron:UERJporhttps://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/matraga/article/view/72421/45220Saramago, Victoriainfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess2023-05-12T13:52:41Zoai:ojs.www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br:article/72421Revistahttps://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/index.php/matragaPUBhttps://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/index.php/matraga/oai||letrasmatraga@uerj.br2446-69051414-7165opendoar:2023-05-12T13:52:41Matraga (Online) - Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)false |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Torture and electricity in the military dictatorship: an environmental perspective Tortura e eletricidade na ditadura militar: uma perspectiva ambiental |
title |
Torture and electricity in the military dictatorship: an environmental perspective |
spellingShingle |
Torture and electricity in the military dictatorship: an environmental perspective Saramago, Victoria Torture Electroshock Anthropocene Narrative Great Acceleration. |
title_short |
Torture and electricity in the military dictatorship: an environmental perspective |
title_full |
Torture and electricity in the military dictatorship: an environmental perspective |
title_fullStr |
Torture and electricity in the military dictatorship: an environmental perspective |
title_full_unstemmed |
Torture and electricity in the military dictatorship: an environmental perspective |
title_sort |
Torture and electricity in the military dictatorship: an environmental perspective |
author |
Saramago, Victoria |
author_facet |
Saramago, Victoria |
author_role |
author |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
Saramago, Victoria |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Torture Electroshock Anthropocene Narrative Great Acceleration. |
topic |
Torture Electroshock Anthropocene Narrative Great Acceleration. |
description |
Since torture started being systematically used against political dissidents by the military dictatorship that ru- led Brazil from 1964 to 1985, its depiction in films and literary works has underscored one of the most common modalities of torture in the period: electroshock. I argue that, even though torture by electroshock demands a relatively small amount of energy, whether from electrical appliances or manually generated by cranks, the representation of electricity as always and necessarily excessive constitutes one of the most paradigmatic forms through which its presence becomes symbolically visible in the cultural production of the Anthropocene in the second half of the twentieth century. This paper reads scenes of torture by electroshock as typical of the Great Acceleration, which relies on a steady supply of electrical energy, in order to investigate how narra- tives of torture by electroshock allow for a renewed reading of this corpus from an environmental standpoint. I focus on two works from the late 1960s and early 1970s in which torture breaks into narratives in an abrupt fashion: Lygia Fagundes Telles’s novel Girl in the Photograph (1973) and Júlio Bressane’s film Killed his Family and Went to the Movies (1969). |
publishDate |
2023 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2023-02-24 |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion artigo de literatura artigos de literatura |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/matraga/article/view/72421 10.12957/matraga.2023.72421 |
url |
https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/matraga/article/view/72421 |
identifier_str_mv |
10.12957/matraga.2023.72421 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
por |
language |
por |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/matraga/article/view/72421/45220 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
Matraga - Revista do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras da UERJ; v. 30 n. 58 (2023): Miscelânea; 163-178 MATRAGA - Journal published by the Graduate Program in Letters at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ); Vol. 30 No. 58 (2023): Miscelaneous; 163-178 2446-6905 1414-7165 reponame:Matraga (Online) instname:Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) instacron:UERJ |
instname_str |
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) |
instacron_str |
UERJ |
institution |
UERJ |
reponame_str |
Matraga (Online) |
collection |
Matraga (Online) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Matraga (Online) - Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
||letrasmatraga@uerj.br |
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1799318495256641536 |