A peça radiofônica Processos contra as bruxas, de Walter Benjamin: A inquisição como aviso de incêndio

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the radio play titled Processos contra as Bruxas, included in the book A hora das crianças: narrativas radiofônicas by Walter Benjamin, which gathers a collection of 29 texts produced for radio programs in Berlin and Frankfurt, with an average duration of twenty minutes, between 1927 and 1932. These texts address literary, historical, political, and cultural themes. On a first level of meaning, the aforementioned radio play explores how the conception of the witch—this millennia-old figure of collective imagination, often depicted as evil, with warts and devouring children, as exemplified by the character of Hansel and Gretel—transformed, by the end of the Middle Ages, into a figure feared in social daily life. In other words, the witch character, influenced by the rise of the capitalist system and religious discourse, shifted from fairy tales to the realm of law and power relations. However, we argue that this unequivocal denunciation of witch hunts, as well as the narrative of certain catastrophes, not only sheds light on past times but also, importantly, serves as an analogy to the current relevance of Nazifascism. To support this analysis, beyond Benjamin’s own reflections (1995, 2000, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2020), the study draws on works by other authors, including Anita Novinsky’s A Inquisição (2012); Bernd Witte’s Walter Benjamin: uma biografia (2017); Francisco Bethencourt’s História das Inquisições (2000); Bruno Bettelheim’s A psicanálise dos contos de fadas (2007); Ligia Cadermartori’s O que é Literatura Infantil (2010); Henrich Kramer and James Sprenger’s O Martelo das Feiticeiras (2023); Jean Delumeau’s História do Medo no Ocidente (2009); Jeanne Marie Gagnebin’s História e narração em Walter Benjamin (2013); Márcio Seligmann-Silva’s A atualidade de Walter Benjamin e de Theodor W. Adorno (2010); Peter Hunt’s Crítica, Teoria e Literatura Infantil (2010); Philippe Ariès’ História social da criança e da família (2022); Sigmund Freud’s O poeta e o fantasiar (2015); Silvia Federici’s Mulheres e caça às bruxas (2019), among others. Finally, the study aspires to contribute to a more theoretical and critical understanding of the complex relationships between the literary institution and war, as well as the intimate links between the Inquisition (13th to 18th centuries) and the Holocaust (20th century), viewed here as a form of historical updating, and to enrich Benjaminian studies.