On Brazilian Melodrama: From the novels of José de Alencar to the telenovelas of Manoel Carlos

Abstract

This work seeks to explain the importance of melodrama in shaping Brazilian literature. Through analysis and close reading of a diverse group of works (novels, plays, telenovelas, operas), I first address how melodrama functions in general and, more specifically, why it is particularly effective in Brazil. I begin with an introduction to the main issues of melodrama as a mode and then turn to Brazilian literary works. I argue that melodrama arrived in Brazil not only through the popular sentimental novel but, more decisively, through viewers’ experience of opera; melodrama should therefore be understood as a cross-mediatic literary mode. Brazilian writers were especially aware of this. Beginning with José de Alencar, it becomes evident that these writers were deeply concerned with presenting a wide range of European references as triggering devices for their own works. For them, melodrama functioned not only as a form of sentimentalism but also as a means of representing and exploring the erotic tensions of modern life in a peripheral country. Through the case of Carlos Gomes, I also examine how Brazilian artists attempted to “export” melodrama abroad. Gomes is a rare figure in the history of nineteenth-century music: a Brazilian who achieved success in Europe as an Italian opera composer. His case reveals not only central features of nineteenth-century exoticism but also key aspects of Brazilian ideological discourse, particularly the role of sexual desire and race in the formation of foundational narratives. In contrast to previous work, however, my argument shows how the Indigenous male body was eroticized in some of these discourses, thereby exposing contradictions in overly schematic interpretations of Brazilian foundational myths. I further explore the use of melodrama in political discourse and its implications for the novel as a genre. Through the case of Bernardo Guimarães’s A Escrava Isaura, I demonstrate how the story—though successfully adapted as a telenovela—required the novel as its original medium. I then analyze the work of Nelson Rodrigues and his crucial role in developing a meta-critical approach to melodrama as a genre. Finally, by way of conclusion, I discuss the role of telenovelas, focusing particularly on the “Helenas” created by screenwriter Manoel Carlos. My main observations regarding melodrama are as follows: (I) melodrama is a cross-mediatic mode; (II) its cross-mediatic nature makes it especially prone to self-referentiality and derivation; (III) melodrama relies not only on an “occult morality” but also—indeed primarily—on representing objects that are recognizable without being visible; (IV) melodrama is a mode that fetishizes performance; (V) it plays a crucial role in processes of memory-making, particularly through its erotic investments; (VI) in Brazil, melodrama has been the dominant literary mode since the nineteenth century, largely due to the country’s racial dynamics and its reliance on foundational myths structured around interracial desire; and (VII) in Brazil, melodrama is both cosmopolitan and national, often complicating strictly nationalist interpretations of literature.