Notes on Berthold Brecht's reception in Brazil, by Anatol Rosenfeld

Abstract

One of the most important chapters in the reception of German theater in Brazil began in 1958 with the presentation of Berthold Brecht's play The Good Woman of Setsuan. The subsequent performance of many of his works brought up new dramaturgic and theoretical questions in a context that was open to aesthetic experimentation and marked by a dialectic between the theater and the turbulent social context of the period. Groups such as Arena, Oficina, and CPC discussed, updated and articulated Brecht's work through their experimentation. Since this reception in Brazil, both in the late 1950s and today, is based on several different theoretical and critical references, it would seem well to go back to Anatol Rosenfeld's critique of Brecht. From his broad knowledge of aesthetic theater, epic theater theory, Brazilian theater and Brecht's work, Rosenfeld holds an important place in the debates on Brecht's works and Brecht's influence on Brazilian theater. In this article we take up several phases in Rosenfeld's work, which is theoretical as well as historical and critical. His contributions are considered among the most lucid and updated studies on Brecht and the Brazilian theater.