Event
Title:
Violence and Social Criticism in Contemporary Brazilian Cinema
Date:
09/28/2007
Time:
01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Location:
George Wells Knight House
Description:
The Lusophone Globalicities Working Group
of
The OSU Institute for Collaborative Research and Public Humanities
is pleased to present
"Representing and Misrepresenting Brazil:
Violence and Social Criticism in Contemporary Brazilian Cinema"
by
Antonio Luciano Tosta
Brazilian Literature and Culture
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1:00 pm
Friday, September 28
George Wells Knight House
104 E. 15th Avenue
Brazilian cinema has without a doubt excelled in the past few decades. Films like Central Station and City of God have not only helped to bring Brazilian reality to international attention, but also to take Brazilians back to movie theaters. The portrayal of violence is a common feature in many of these films that have been box office hits in Brazil and abroad. This talk discusses how these late Brazilian films can be connected to a Brazilian and Latin American cinematic tradition, and how they are inserted in a contemporary discussion of Brazilian society.
Antonio Luciano Tosta is an Assistant Professor of Brazilian Literature and Culture at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and a
Master’s degree in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies from Brown University. Dr. Tosta is currently finishing two manuscripts: “Confluence Narratives in the Literatures of the Americas” and “An Introduction to Brazilian-American Literature and Cinema.” His essays have appeared in several journals and as book chapters in the US, Brazil, and Europe.
Lusophone Globalicities: An Interdisciplinary Collaborative Research Project is a working group whose purpose is to enhance understanding of cultural texts and dynamics that have resulted from the centuries-long networks of exchange among and beyond Portuguese-speaking regions in Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas. It is interested in what this inquiry teaches about present-day cultural and political realities in the Lusophone world, as well as the role of Lusophone societies in the global milieu. Issues to be explored include domestic and transnational negotiations between high and low culture, and the impact of audiovisual culture (e.g., music, television, cinema) and diverse forms of expressive culture (e.g., folklore and folk life, religious and ritual traditions, festival practices) on contemporary national and global politics, economic systems, and discourses of identity.
For more information, you can visit the groups page ( http://sppo.osu.edu/portuguese/lusoglobe/default. cfm ), or contact one of the co-leaders of the group: Daniel Avorgbedor (avorgbedor.1@osu.edu) or Richard Gordon (gordon.397@osu.edu)
Contact:
avorgbedor.1@osu.edu
