Brazilian Dystopian Futures: Worlding Brazil through SF Movies
Abstract Relying on the so-called IR aesthetic turn and taking advantage of the critical and epistemic qualities of cinema, this article explores how some Brazilian science fiction (SF) films offer a sensitive and reflective interpretation of Brazil and its place in the world, which should be valued...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Spanish |
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Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Contexto Internacional |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-85292024000301107&lng=en&tlng=en |
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| author | Gilberto Carvalho de Oliveira |
| author_facet | Gilberto Carvalho de Oliveira |
| author_sort | Gilberto Carvalho de Oliveira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Relying on the so-called IR aesthetic turn and taking advantage of the critical and epistemic qualities of cinema, this article explores how some Brazilian science fiction (SF) films offer a sensitive and reflective interpretation of Brazil and its place in the world, which should be valued in the study of international politics. Within this proposal, the article analyses four emblematic movies from the scarce historiography of Brazilian SF cinema – O Quinto Poder (1962), Os Cosmonautas (1962), Brasil Ano 2000 (1969), and ‘Bacurau’ (2019) – in order to identify to what extent they resulted in the reproduction or reinforcement of more conventional understandings and consensual representations of international politics, or conversely exposed, questioned and/or criticised dominant representations of Brazil and its place in the world. The analytical category of ‘worlding’ is borrowed from post-colonial thinking to designate the process by which filmmakers construct or deconstruct the imaginaries that make Brazilian reality intelligible, locally and globally. As the article aims to show, the way Brazil is worlded in these SF films contributes to amplify important debates and encourage critical thinking on issues that inform the way Brazil and its place in the world is interpreted by its own cultural agents and artists. The article also shows that the epistemological move suggested by the IR aesthetic turn and the concept of worlding provide a more nuanced lens that provides interpretations of Brazil and to some extent of international politics that are more locally rooted and therefore richer than those that distant and western-centred orthodox IR theories can allow. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-118f751f77f14d9b98970585c2f13fd3 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1982-0240 |
| language | Spanish |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Contexto Internacional |
| spelling | doaj-art-118f751f77f14d9b98970585c2f13fd32025-08-20T02:49:29ZspaPontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de JaneiroContexto Internacional1982-02402024-12-0146310.1590/s0102-8529.20244603e20220056Brazilian Dystopian Futures: Worlding Brazil through SF MoviesGilberto Carvalho de Oliveirahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6713-1126Abstract Relying on the so-called IR aesthetic turn and taking advantage of the critical and epistemic qualities of cinema, this article explores how some Brazilian science fiction (SF) films offer a sensitive and reflective interpretation of Brazil and its place in the world, which should be valued in the study of international politics. Within this proposal, the article analyses four emblematic movies from the scarce historiography of Brazilian SF cinema – O Quinto Poder (1962), Os Cosmonautas (1962), Brasil Ano 2000 (1969), and ‘Bacurau’ (2019) – in order to identify to what extent they resulted in the reproduction or reinforcement of more conventional understandings and consensual representations of international politics, or conversely exposed, questioned and/or criticised dominant representations of Brazil and its place in the world. The analytical category of ‘worlding’ is borrowed from post-colonial thinking to designate the process by which filmmakers construct or deconstruct the imaginaries that make Brazilian reality intelligible, locally and globally. As the article aims to show, the way Brazil is worlded in these SF films contributes to amplify important debates and encourage critical thinking on issues that inform the way Brazil and its place in the world is interpreted by its own cultural agents and artists. The article also shows that the epistemological move suggested by the IR aesthetic turn and the concept of worlding provide a more nuanced lens that provides interpretations of Brazil and to some extent of international politics that are more locally rooted and therefore richer than those that distant and western-centred orthodox IR theories can allow.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-85292024000301107&lng=en&tlng=enaestheticsscience fictioninternational politicsdystopiasworlding Brazil |
| spellingShingle | Gilberto Carvalho de Oliveira Brazilian Dystopian Futures: Worlding Brazil through SF Movies Contexto Internacional aesthetics science fiction international politics dystopias worlding Brazil |
| title | Brazilian Dystopian Futures: Worlding Brazil through SF Movies |
| title_full | Brazilian Dystopian Futures: Worlding Brazil through SF Movies |
| title_fullStr | Brazilian Dystopian Futures: Worlding Brazil through SF Movies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Brazilian Dystopian Futures: Worlding Brazil through SF Movies |
| title_short | Brazilian Dystopian Futures: Worlding Brazil through SF Movies |
| title_sort | brazilian dystopian futures worlding brazil through sf movies |
| topic | aesthetics science fiction international politics dystopias worlding Brazil |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-85292024000301107&lng=en&tlng=en |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT gilbertocarvalhodeoliveira braziliandystopianfuturesworldingbrazilthroughsfmovies |