This dissertation critiques four stagings of The Merchant of Venice observed in three theatrical cultures of the Anglophone world and argues that engaging productions of this script take into account its self-deconstructive character as one of its most decisive ordering principles. The dissertation draws on Derrida's Deconstruction, stressing that, according to the acknowledged father of the movement, texts do have transcendental traces. It discusses themes such as anti-Semitism versus ethnic intolerance,homosexuality verus somody, carnivalization, and the representation of emotions.

This dissertation critiques four stagings of The Merchant of Venice observed in three theatrical cultures of the Anglophone world and argues that engaging productions of this script take into account its self-deconstructive character as one of its most decisive ordering principles. The dissertation draws on Derrida's Deconstruction, stressing that, according to the acknowledged father of the movement, texts do have transcendental traces. It discusses themes such as anti-Semitism versus ethnic intolerance,homosexuality verus somody, carnivalization, and the representation of emotions.

Anton Pávlovitch Tchékhov (1860-1904) é hoje um dos dramaturgos mais encenados no Brasil e no mundo. A fim de compreender como se deu o processo de afirmação de sua dramaturgia, bem como as interpretações e atualizações feitas por críticos e grupos teatrais, realizaremos um estudo de recepção com foco específico na relação entre texto e cena. Inicialmente, faremos uma breve análise de suas primeiras encenações em solo russo (e a produção pelo Teatro de Arte de Moscou do que se convencionou chamar tchekhovismo), passando pelos palcos europeus e americanos para, finalmente, entender as principais interpretações produzidas em solo brasileiro - foco deste trabalho. Ao final, esperamos que fique evidente que nossa tentativa é menos a de estabelecer uma linha evolutiva de dissolução do mito do tchekhovismo e mais a de mostrar como ao longo da história da recepção do drama de Tchékhov sua atualização constante sofria (e sofre) pressões dos impasses de nossa formação teatral, nossas dificuldades econômicas, sociais e políticas. / Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is one of the most staged playwriters of our days both in Brazil and in most of the World. In order to understand how the importance of his dramaturgy came into being, as well as the different interpretations and updatings done by several theater groups, this study will investigate Chekhov\'s reception, with emphasis to the relation between the text and the stagings. Beginning with an analysis of his Russian reception (and the creation of what we came to call Chekhovism by the Moscow Art Theater), we will then proceed with analysis of his stagings in both Europe and the United States in order to finally approach his Brazilian reception and interpretation the main focus of this study. We hope, by the end of this inquiry, to have made clear that our intention is not only tracing an evolutionary line of the myth of Chekovism and of its dissolution, but also showing how Checkov\'s constant reinterpretations suffered (and continues to suffer) pressure from the genesis of our theater tradition and of our social, political and economic struggles.

Anton Pávlovitch Tchékhov (1860-1904) é hoje um dos dramaturgos mais encenados no Brasil e no mundo. A fim de compreender como se deu o processo de afirmação de sua dramaturgia, bem como as interpretações e atualizações feitas por críticos e grupos teatrais, realizaremos um estudo de recepção com foco específico na relação entre texto e cena. Inicialmente, faremos uma breve análise de suas primeiras encenações em solo russo (e a produção pelo Teatro de Arte de Moscou do que se convencionou chamar tchekhovismo), passando pelos palcos europeus e americanos para, finalmente, entender as principais interpretações produzidas em solo brasileiro - foco deste trabalho. Ao final, esperamos que fique evidente que nossa tentativa é menos a de estabelecer uma linha evolutiva de dissolução do mito do tchekhovismo e mais a de mostrar como ao longo da história da recepção do drama de Tchékhov sua atualização constante sofria (e sofre) pressões dos impasses de nossa formação teatral, nossas dificuldades econômicas, sociais e políticas. / Anton Pavlovich Chekhov is one of the most staged playwriters of our days both in Brazil and in most of the World. In order to understand how the importance of his dramaturgy came into being, as well as the different interpretations and updatings done by several theater groups, this study will investigate Chekhov\'s reception, with emphasis to the relation between the text and the stagings. Beginning with an analysis of his Russian reception (and the creation of what we came to call Chekhovism by the Moscow Art Theater), we will then proceed with analysis of his stagings in both Europe and the United States in order to finally approach his Brazilian reception and interpretation the main focus of this study. We hope, by the end of this inquiry, to have made clear that our intention is not only tracing an evolutionary line of the myth of Chekovism and of its dissolution, but also showing how Checkov\'s constant reinterpretations suffered (and continues to suffer) pressure from the genesis of our theater tradition and of our social, political and economic struggles.