O riso como agente crítico-social na obra Auto da Compadecida, de Ariano Suassuna

Abstract

My main focus and intention in this work is to conduct a study on the meaning of the laughter in the literary work Auto da Compadecida (2005), by Ariano Suassuna. In this study, I try to deconstruct the paradigm of laughter only understood as a physiological act of "laughing", and only related to the social context of fun, seeking to expose its character of critical agent, and subversion of social institutions such as family environment, religious, marital and work, as they are shown in Suassuna’s characters. To develop this theme, I used as the main theoretical foundations the works Cultura Popular na Idade Média e no Renascimento, by Mikhail Bakhtin, Riso: Ensaio sobre a Significação do Cômico, by Henri Bergson, O Sertão Medieval: Origens Europeias do Teatro de Ariano Suassuna, by Ligia Vassalo and Ironia em perspectiva polifônica, by Beth Brait. So, I intend to consider laughter as a critical mechanism of social relations between the characters of the work, and point out that it is not just the simple act of smiling and deride, as it has a character of denunciation, revolution and innovation.