Broken mirrors and stages of resistance: scenic art, subjectivity, and the critique of the penal system based on O Espelho by Machado de Assis

Abstract

This study explores the intricate relationship between identity, the penal system, and the transformative potential of scenic arts, drawing from Machado de Assis’ short story O Espelho: Esboço de uma nova teoria da alma humana. Jacobina’s theory of “two souls” — an inner one and an outer one validated by social recognition — serves as a metaphor to understand how subjectivity is constructed and can be dismantled, particularly within the penal context. Prisons, often acting as a deforming mirror, systematically negates individuality and fragments the self. In contrast, this study argues that scenic arts (theater and performance) in correctional facilities can function as “critical mirrors” and “stages of (re)existence.” By analyzing artistic projects in Brazil and internationally and dialoguing with theorists such as Foucault, Mbembe, Ben-Moshe, Freire, hooks, Lucas, and Nascimento, this study investigates how these practices enable incarcerated individuals to challenge stigmatizing narratives, rewrite their own stories, and reconstruct their subjectivities. The core objective is to show that scenic arts, when imbued with liberatory pedagogies, can transcend pastime, becoming a political and existential act of resistance, humanization, and social critique and fostering the decolonization of the gaze and the claim for full humanity within and beyond prison walls. This study ends by emphasizing the importance of investing in artistic and pedagogical practices that aim at “rehabilitation” and at a fundamental transformation of the criminal justice system toward a more just and less punitive society.