The Pandorga and the Law: past-present-future

• Main Author: Joana D'Arc Fernandes Ferraz
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro 2018-01-01
• Series: Revista Maracanan
• Subjects: Ditadura Empresarial-militar Brasileira; Crise; Memória; Duração; Teatro
• Online Access: https://www.e-publicacoes.uerj.br/index.php/maracanan/article/view/31248

Going through the different times provoked by the theatre play The Pandorga and the Law (1983-1984), by João das Neves, this article intends to think the relations between memory and crisis in contemporary Brazil, starting from the concept of duration and its ramifications, inaugurated by Henri Bergson. This play was read for the first time in the 1st Seminary of the Grupo Tortura Nunca Mais - RJ (GTNM-RJ), held on October 28, 29, 30, 31 and November 1, 1985, at Cândido Mendes University. This Seminar formalized the foundation of the GTNM-RJ. Our reflections are based on the Brazilian business-military dictatorship. The duration time is multiple and qualitative more than a linear chronological and quantitative time. Which past, present and future incessantly interact, raising problems, reviving wounds, scars and opening gaps. Beyond the borders of time to look at the horrors of the past, to understand what remains of past in the present, and to consider what it can beckon us to the future, imposes itself as a challenge to the understanding of the contemporary Brazilian panorama.