Music in Memórias do cárcere

Abstract

This article aims at investigating the presence of music in Graciliano Ramos’s narrative, Memórias do cárcere, and in its film adaptation directed by Nelson Pereira dos Santos. If music is more discreetly present in the novel but no less relevant, in the movie its presence is even more relevant. In a broader sense, in both works the musical pieces are used as a form of resistance against the oppressive forces. The objective of this paper is to understand how the two artists use music in their works as a structural element of the narrative. The theoretical framework developed by Michel Chion was essential for the development of the analysis on the dialogue between the musical soundtrack and the image in the film by Nelson Pereira dos Santos.