{"id":50084,"date":"2012-09-11T18:19:26","date_gmt":"2012-09-11T21:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=50084"},"modified":"2016-01-21T13:44:34","modified_gmt":"2016-01-21T15:44:34","slug":"forbidden-pages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/forbidden-pages\/","title":{"rendered":"Forbidden pages"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Nelson Provazi<\/span>Twenty-eight boxes stored in the National Archives of Brasilia preserve part of a history whose pages still remain unwritten. The collection contains documents produced by the military regime\u2019s censorship authorities in the aftermath of the enactment of Institutional Act no. 5 in 1968.<\/p>\n

The contents of the files were recently analyzed by Sandra Reim\u00e3o, a professor at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities (ECA\/USP), who has compiled the most comprehensive list of books submitted to the censorship authorities during the period. The study was published in the book Repress\u00e3o e resist\u00eancia \u2013 Censura a livros na ditadura militar<\/em> [Repression and resistance \u2013 Book censorship during the military dictatorship ](Edusp\/FAPESP, 2011), which provides a detailed analysis of the criteria that the Brazilian government used to ban literary works published at that time, under the pretext of preserving public order and morals. This list includes such books as O mundo do socialismo <\/em>[The world of socialism], by Caio Prado Junior, and erotic books such as Tessa, a gata <\/em>[Tessa the cat], by Cassandra Rios.<\/p>\n

The list also includes such books as Feliz Ano Novo <\/em>[Happy New Year], by Rubem Fonseca; Zero<\/em>, by Ign\u00e1cio de Loyola Brand\u00e3o; Dez hist\u00f3rias imorais <\/em>[Ten immoral stories], by Aguinaldo Silva; and Carni\u00e7a <\/em>[Carrion], by Adelaide Carraro. Sandra Reim\u00e3o also included a secondary list of plays published in books that mention the texts Papa Highirte<\/em>, by Oduvaldo Vianna, and Abajur lil\u00e1s <\/em>[Lilac lampshade], by Pl\u00ednio Marcos.<\/p>\n

These books were all officially banned from 1970 (when Decree Law 1077\/70 was enacted, instituting prior censorship of literary publications) to 1988, the year in which the National Constituent Assembly put an end to censorship.<\/p>\n

Erotic books were the most common target. \u201cWhen one reads the laws, one immediately realizes that the censors always referred to books that were contrary to morals and good habits; the censorship of books on political issues, on corruption or torture was never explicit,\u201d says Marcelo Ridenti, author of the book Em busca do povo brasileiro \u2013 Artistas da revolu\u00e7\u00e3o, do CPC \u00e0 era da TV<\/em> [In search of the Brazilian people \u2013 Artists of the revolution, from CPC to the TV era] (Record, 458 pages).<\/p>\n

Such covert censorship was not merely a disguise. \u201cThe censors were truly concerned about morals and most of the censored books were erotic. The point is that censorship, based on such morality-related criteria, also banned books considered subversive to the public order,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Cassandra Rios, a renowned writer whose essays often focused on female homoeroticism, was among the writers most consistently persecuted by the dictatorship. The author turned the censor\u2019s actions to her benefit when she wrote on the cover of the book Tessa, a gata<\/em>, \u201cthis is the new bestseller by Brazil\u2019s most extensively banned author.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sandra\u2019s research work, funded by FAPESP, found that 313 works had been banned out of the 492 books submitted for analysis by the Departamento de Censura de Divers\u00f5es P\u00fablicas (DCDP)<\/em>, the censorship authorities. In other words, of this total amount, 179 books were released after analysis by the DCDP. This piece of information is important for one to understand that the authorities had developed censorship criteria. Censorship was conducted by a team of employees hired by means of a public competition and many of them were university students.<\/p>\n

\"082-085_Censura_199\"<\/a>The list compiled by Sandra has not been concluded yet. The full list of books censored by the dictatorship will probably never be concluded, says the researcher, because the censorship methodology had not been standardized before the enactment of decree-law 1077. \u201cPrior to 1970, coercion, seizure of books, invasion of bookstores, and imprisonment of book publishers was conducted in a disorganized manner. At first, the books were censored by government authorities. After the enactment of the AI-5, censorship became the duty of the Ministry of Justice,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The documents stored in the National Archives\u2019 28 files might not be complete. \u201cThe existing files contain the documents that have been preserved. We don\u2019t know how many files were lost,\u201d the researcher explains. The documents stored in the National Archives only became available from the year 2000 onwards. \u201cThere is plenty of new information on this issue. The material had not been analyzed before simply because it had not been organized,\u201d the researcher adds.<\/p>\n

However, a similar analysis had been conducted prior to Sandra\u2019s work. This earlier analysis was the starting point for Sandra\u2019s research. Professor Deon\u00edsio da Silva, who has a doctorate in literature from the University of S\u00e3o Paulo, wrote the book Nos bastidores da censura <\/em>[ Censorship behind the curtain]. In this book, he mentions 430 works that were censored during the military regime. Of these, 92 were written by Brazilians. \u201cMy work is a continuation of the work begun by Deon\u00edsio,\u201d says Sandra. When the censorship authorities focused their headlights on book publishing, they had already been actively involved in censoring other art forms, especially theater, music and cinema. \u201cThe number of censored books is lower than other forms of public entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcelo Ridenti confirms that literature was less affected than other forms of art. \u201cAudiovisual production was more powerful in terms of reaching out to the masses. Obviously, the censors focus more on film and television,\u201d the researcher explains. He adds that the Brazilian publishing companies were not obliged to submit their book launches to prior censorship, as was the case for film and TV producers. To make their surveillance system focus on the domestic literary production, the censors often counted on some basic assistance in the form of accusations, often made by ordinary citizens.<\/p>\n

Because literature was not focused on as strongly as the other arts, writers had more freedom. \u201cLiterature was an escape valve,\u201d says Ridenti. \u201cCalabar<\/em>, written by Chico Buarque, was banned from the theater, but it was published as a book,\u201d the researcher exemplifies. \u201cLiterature afforded more breathing space.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to a survey by Zuenir Ventura, published in the book 1968 \u2013 O ano que n\u00e3o terminou <\/em>[1968 \u2013 The year that did not end], approximately 500 films, 450 theater plays, 200 books, countless radio shows, 100 magazines, more than 500 song lyrics and several soap opera scripts were censored while the AI-5 law was in effect (1968-1978).<\/p>\n

Many of the accusations documented in the expert opinions prepared by the censorship authorities requested the censorship of contents seen as erotic or pornographic. Examples of these documents are found in the last pages of Sandra\u2019s book and are easily understood, thanks to the graphic design prepared by Carla Fernanda Fontana. \u201cThe book Quiet Days in Clichy<\/em>, by Henry Miller, is truly a case of indecent exposure. Nonetheless, it is available to any teenager who goes to the Municipal Library in this city,\u201d wrote Usana Minette, from the town of Len\u00e7\u00f3is Paulista. The letter was written in September 1974 and was addressed to Armando Ribeiro Falc\u00e3o, then Minister of Justice. The accusatory letter continues: \u201cThe availability of the book ….was fostered by the mayor and by the president of the library. The book was only taken off the shelf after much insistence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Nelson Provazi<\/span>
\nThis letter was typed at the time when the censors were at the peak of their censorship activity; 1975 was the year in which the censors banned the largest number of Brazilian books. According to Sandra Reim\u00e3o, 109 of the 132 books analyzed by the Ministry of Justice were banned in 1975.<\/p>\n

Sixty-one books were banned in 1976, including Feliz Ano Novo<\/em>, by Rubem Fonseca, which has been extensively studied by researchers investigating book censorship during the dictatorship. It tells the story of three characters who break into and enter a mansion during a New Year\u2019s Eve party. They kill three people, rape one woman and, at the end, raise a toast to the New Year.<\/p>\n

In the expert opinion prepared by censor Raymundo F. de Mesquita, who wrote the phrase \u201cBanned\u201d in bold type when filling out the blank \u201cAge Rating,\u201d the ban on this book was explained as follows: \u201cThis book […] portrays characters that have complexes, vices and sexual anomalies. The book focuses on the obscure aspects of society that concern crime, bribery, murder and homicide, without any reference to sanctions…\u201d The document then points out that \u201cpages 31, 139 and 141 of the book contain \u201cderogatory comments on government authorities and censorship.\u201d<\/p>\n

From 1976 onwards, the number of censored books started to drop gradually (see chart on page 84<\/em>). One of the theories for this reduction in the number of censored books and of other art forms is the death of journalist Vladimir Herzog, who died as a result of being tortured by the military authorities in 1975.<\/p>\n

Thereafter, society began to clamor for a return to democracy and for the end of censorship. \u201cThat was one of the factors,\u201d says Flamarion Mau\u00e9s Pel\u00facio Silva, a PhD candidate in social history who has a master\u2019s degree in economics from the University of S\u00e3o Paulo. His field of studies is the history of the publishing companies that opposed the dictatorship in Brazil. The early 1970s witnessed a high number of missing persons and deaths of politicians who opposed the regime, whether these opponents were \u201cmembers of the guerilla groups or not.\u201d Flamarion points out that Herzog\u2019s death in this context led the country to \u201cbecome more aware\u201d of the political situation, exacerbated by the military repression, which provoked an immediate reaction.<\/p>\n

In the historian\u2019s opinion, Sandra\u2019s research work, limited to the books that were banned by government censorship authorities, as extensively documented, \u201ccoherently\u201d shows the criteria the persecutions were based on. \u201cThe books were censored on the basis of a formal point of view, with expert opinions. The documents contain justifications and this material is valuable,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

At the end of her book, Sandra mentions the resistance of publishers and writers to the requirements of government censorship. \u00c9rico Verissimo and Jorge Amado, who publicly manifested their opposition to the military regime, stood out in this movement, which included \u201ca legion of anonymous voices,\u201d says the researcher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"List of books censored after the AI-5 act reveals criteria of the confiscation","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[241,261],"coauthors":[336],"class_list":["post-50084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-humanities","tag-history","tag-sociology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50084\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50084"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=50084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}