Dias Gomes, a televised intellectual: modernity, tradition, and individualism in Brazilian television drama

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This study aims to analyze the dramatic works of Dias Gomes (1922–1999) and the narrative markers within them that illustrate the relationship between tradition and modernity, specifically in his play “O Berço do Herói” (1963) and its subsequent adaptation into the Rede Globo telenovela “Roque Santeiro” (1985), created in collaboration with Aguinaldo Silva. This investigation stems from descriptive documentary research currently underway within the Graduate Program in Sociology at UFC. It posits that the fiction of this author and political intellectual, when adapted for television, reflects the country's social reality through the lens of a uniquely Brazilian process of individualization. This process is observed in the conflict between "tradition" and "modernity" found in the plots and character discourses of the author's universe, as well as in his own intellectual trajectory; in the case of “O Berço do Herói”, this highlights a critical interpretation of Brazilian culture and national identity. The theoretical analysis of these representations draws upon the sociology of individuality, specifically the work of Richard Sennett (2012) and Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim (2017), to interpret the constitutive characteristics of the contemporary individual.