Irony in 'Morte e vida Severina' (1956), by João Cabral de Melo Neto

Abstract

The Brazilian writer and diplomat João Cabral de Melo Neto, while working at the Consulate General in London, was accused of subversion for alleged involvement with communism. When he was sent back to Brazil, he worked in the press, took part in conferences and published unpublished texts, including the dramatic poem Morte e vida Severina (Death and life Severina), as part of the volume Duas Águas (Two-Waters) (1956). Over time, this novelesque poem has been the writer's most notable work to the general public, whether due to its communicative aspect – questionable, but recognized by the poet; because of the mise-en-scène at the theater of the Pontifical Catholic University of Sao Paulo, the TUCA, in the 1960s, with music by Chico Buarque de Holanda; or because of the countless adaptations for various media, television, comic books, animation, etc.