Contemporary Nonfiction Writing on Catastrophe: Marco Paolini and Daniela Arbex

This lecture aims to establish a link between Ausmerzen (2012) by Italian performer and writer Marco Paolini and Holocausto brasileiro (2013) by Brazilian journalist Daniela Arbex, based on formal and thematic similarities, taking into consideration the authors' attempts to present archives of the catastrophe through iconographic and written components. How are these works constituted, how do they work? Secondly, I address the question of empathy in Paolini's and Arbex's works, confronting them, respectively, with Paolini's homonymous TV event Ausmerzen and Helvécio Ratton's short documentary Em nome da razão, filmed inside the Colônia in 1979, a reportage on the miserable conditions of patients. I reflect on the specific qualities of the books as nonfictional texts that also incorporate literary elements, vis-à-vis the event on TV (an hybrid between a theatrical play and a lecture) and Ratton's documentary. Finally, I propose some critical considerations on limitations of Arbex's project and explain why a comparative reading of Holocausto brasileiro and Ausmerzen provides a rich critical contribution in the context of the classroom.

A small reception will follow the lecture.
This event is sponsored by the Department of Romance Studies, the Franklin Humanities Institute, and the Kenan Institute for Ethics.