Between the ‘devil's cauldron’ and the Red Command: prison memories of Ilha Grande (Graciliano Ramos, Herondino Pereira Pinto, and William da Silva Lima)

Abstract

From the 19th century and throughout the 20th century, until the implosion of the Cândido Mendes Penal Institute in 1994, Ilha Grande was chosen by both dictatorships and democratic governments as a place of exile and incarceration. Of the many prison units maintained there, one common legacy remains: irregular prisons and constant violation of rights.  This article seeks to reconstruct this trajectory through the testimonies of three prisoners: Graciliano Ramos, Herondino Pereira Pinto, and William da Silva Lima. In their respective memoirs, the authors recount a century-long history of authoritarianism and violence that bears witness to the country's anti-democratic tradition.