Silent movies and the sound in Brazil (1894-1920)

Abstract The silent cinema has recurred to sound from its beginnings. Despite the importance of the connection between these two spheres, only recently foreign scholars began to study the uses the cinema made of sound. Here in Brazil, researches of this field are only beginning. This essay aims to recuperate the uses the silent movies made of sound in national ground, from the first experiences with the kinetoscope (in the ends of 1894) to the beginning of the 1920s, when the place of the music in the cinematographic spectacle was stabilized. From a transdisciplinary perspective, we intend to prove that the cinematographic scene from this period integrated a context of cultural circulation: when popular music and songs were used as accompaniment for the silent films; impregnating the cinematograph with former meanings, as well as constructing new meanings - ones that mixed the moving shadows of the artists to the social polyphony.

摘要 默片自诞生之初便已运用声音元素。尽管默片与声音二者间的关联意义重大，但直至近期，海外学者才开始研究电影对声音的运用实践。而在巴西本土，该领域的研究尚处于起步阶段。本文旨在追溯巴西本土语境下默片对声音的运用实践，时间跨度从1894年末首批活动电影放映机（Kinetoscope）体验活动，直至1920年代初——彼时音乐在电影放映场景中的地位已然稳固。本文将采用跨学科视角，论证此时期的电影场景融入了文化流通语境：当流行音乐与歌曲被用作默片伴奏时，既为电影媒介注入了既往的文化意涵，也构建了全新的意义体系——这一体系将表演者的动态影像与社会复调融为一体。