REI DO GADO - AGRARIAN CHANGES AND “NEW CHARACTERS” ON SCENE

Luiza Antunes Dantas de Oliveira; Matheus Effgen Santos; Andre Luiz Simonetti

Todos os Trabalhos

Trabalho

DOI

10.29327/9786527226680.1443630

Título do Trabalho

REI DO GADO - AGRARIAN CHANGES AND “NEW CHARACTERS” ON SCENE

Autores

Luiza Antunes Dantas de Oliveira
Matheus Effgen Santos
Andre Luiz Simonetti

Modalidade

IRSA - Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (01/10/2025 a 20/01/2026)

Área temática

IRSA 01 - Rural and Environmental Fictions and Social Conflicts

Data de Publicação

06/08/2026

País da Publicação

Brasil

Idioma da Publicação

pt-BR

Página do Trabalho

https://www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1443630-rei-do-gado-agrarian-changes-and-new-characters-on-scene

ISBN

978-65-272-2668-0

Palavras-Chave

labor exploitation, social movement, telenovela

Resumo

We intend to reflect on the representation of transformations related to labor exploitation in Brazil through TV Globo's telenovela O Rei do Gado (1996). To this end, we focus on two “new” political characters who were important to the agrarian social processes during the time period in which the telenovela is set (between the 1950s and 1990s) and also at the time of its broadcast. These are temporary rural workers (known as “boias-frias”) and landless rural workers. We selected episodes seven to twelve, which are part of the second week of broadcast and mark the beginning of the second part of the telenovela. This section highlights aspects related to the end of the settlement regime in São Paulo, where the plot is centered, and the transition to the exploitation of workers called “volantes” (temporary workers), who in the telenovela are focused on the sugarcane economy. The main theme linking the representations of rural life in the second phase of O Rei do Gado is the conflict between ruralists and the Landless Workers' Movement, as well as the political disputes surrounding agrarian reform. The latter are presented in the plot as southern settlers who lost their land due to bank debts and joined the social movement, which was in full swing at the time. In this regard, we highlight that the episodes analyzed were aired two months after the episode that became nationally known as the Eldorado dos Carajás Massacre, in which 21 landless workers were murdered by the Military Police of the State of Pará. Our analysis focuses on visual and textual aspects of the narrative. Our analytical choice is based on the view of the telenovela as a uniquely Brazilian genre and in dialogue with literature, especially with regard to the representation of rural life.

Título do Evento: 16th World Congress of Rural Sociology and 64th Congress of the Brazilian Society of Rural Economics, Management and Sociology
Cidade do Evento: Porto Alegre
Título dos Anais do Evento: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA)
Nome da Editora: Even3
Meio de Divulgação: Meio Digital
DOI

Como citar

OLIVEIRA, Luiza Antunes Dantas de; SANTOS, Matheus Effgen; SIMONETTI, Andre Luiz. REI DO GADO - AGRARIAN CHANGES AND “NEW CHARACTERS” ON SCENE.. In: Anais do 64º Congresso da SOBER e XVI Congresso Mundial de Sociologia Rural (IRSA). Anais...Porto Alegre(RS) UFRGS, 2026. Disponível em: https//www.even3.com.br/anais/sober-irsa2026/1443630-REI-DO-GADO-AGRARIAN-CHANGES-AND-NEW-CHARACTERS-ON-SCENE. Acesso em: 24/09/2026