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Graciliano Ramos (1892-1953)
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Brazilian fiction, poetry, and drama
account for about half the literary output of Latin America, calculated
by the number of titles of individual books.
Literary development in Brazil roughly
follows the country's main historical periods - the Colonial Period,
from 1500 until independence in 1822, characterized mostly by writings
in the Baroque and Arcadian styles, and the National Period since 1822.
Important literary movements during the National Period can be linked
to the country's political and social development: The Romantic Movement
in literature coincided roughly with the 57 years of the Empire; the
Parnassians and the Realists flourished during the early decades of
the Republic, followed, around the turn of the century, by the Symbolists.
In the 20th century, the ascendance of the Vanguardist or Modernist
Movement, with ideas of an avant-garde aestheticism, was celebrated
during the famous São Paulo Week of Modern Art in 1922. This
movement profoundly influenced not only Brazil's literature, but also
its painting, sculpture, music, and architecture.
Many of the notable writers of the
Colonial Period were Jesuits who were mesmerised by the new land and
its native inhabitants. Among the luminaries of this period were Father
José de Anchieta (1534-1597), a poet dedicated to the evangelisation
of the Indians, Gregório de Matos (1623-1696), who composed
poetry layered on lyricism and mysticism but is best known for his
satirical vein, and the famous preacher Father Antônio Vieira
(1608-1697). The Arcadians, Cláudio Manuel da Costa (1729-1789),
Basílio da Gama (1740-1795), and Tomás Antônio
Gonzaga (1744-1810), wrote lyric and epic poems and were also known
for their involvement in the liberation movement called "Minas
Conspiracy" ("Conjuração Mineira").
The transfer, in 1808, of the Portuguese
royal family to Brazil brought with it the spirit of the incipient
European Romantic Movement. Brazilian writers began to emphasise individual
freedom, subjectivism, and a concern for social issues. Following Brazil's
independence from Portugal, Romantic literature expanded to exalt the
uniqueness of Brazil's tropics and its Indians, concern for the African
slaves, and to descriptions of urban activities. Some of the best known
literary figures of the Romantic Period were poets, such as Castro
Alves (1847-1871) who wrote about African slaves and Gonçalves
Dias (1823-1864) who wrote about Indians.
Manuel Antônio de Almeida (1831-1861)
is credited with initiating picaresque literature in Brazil. José de
Alencar (1829-1877) wrote a number of popular novels including Iracema
about Indians, O Guarani, a historical novel, and novels on regional,
social, and urban affairs. Among the novelists of the Romantic Period
two are still widely read in Brazil today: Joaquim Manuel de Macedo
(1820-1882), who wrote A Moreninha, a popular story, and Alfredo d'Escragnolle
Taunay (1843-1899), the author of Inocência.
The Parnassian school of poetry was,
in Brazil as in France, a reaction to the excesses of the Romantics.
The so-called "Parnassian Triad" of Brazilian poets - Olavo
Bilac (1865-1918), Raimundo Corrêa (1860-1911), and Alberto de
Oliveira (1859-1937) - wrote refined poetry in which the poet's personality
and interest in social issues were obliterated.
Machado de Assis (1839-1908), widely
acclaimed as the greatest Brazilian writer of the 19th century and
beyond, was unique because of the universality of his novels and essays.
Today, Machado de Assis remains one of the most important and influential
writers of fiction in Brazil. His works encompassed both the Romantic
style and Realism as exemplified in Europe by Emile Zola and the Portuguese
novelist, Eça de Queiroz. The prose of Euclides da Cunha (1866-1908),
was committed to a Brazilian literature portraying social realities.
His famous work, Os Sertões (Rebellion in the Backlands), about
a revolt in the northeast led by a religious fanatic, was published
in 1902. At the turn of the century the Brazilian literary imagination
was drawn to Symbolism, represented by poets Cruz e Souza (1861-1893)
and Alphonsus de Guimarães (1870-1921). The Symbolists were
interested in mysticism and used metaphor and allegory to express their
ideas.
Beginning in the 20th century, an
innovative state of mind imbued Brazilian artists, culminating in the
celebration of the Week of Modern Art in São Paulo. This new
way of thinking propelled an artistic revolution that appealed to feelings
of pride for national folklore, history, and ancestry. Participants
in the Week of Modern Art resorted to experiments in writing and in
fine arts known elsewhere as Futurism, Cubism, and Dadaism. Poet Menotti
del Pichia summarized the aims of the new artistic movement with these
words: "We want light, air, ventilators, airplanes, workers' demands,
idealism, motors, factory smokestacks, blood, speed, dream in our Art." The
most important leader of the literary phase of this movement was Mário
de Andrade (1893-1945) who wrote poetry, essays on literature, art,
music, and Brazilian folklore, and Macunaíma, which he called "a
rhapsody, not a novel". Oswald de Andrade (1890-1953) wrote a
collection of poems entitled Pau-Brasil (Brazilwood) which evaluated
Brazilian culture, superstitions, and family life in simple language,
economically, and, for the first time in Brazilian poetry, with humour.
The transition to a more spontaneous
literary approach is represented by poets Carlos Drummond de Andrade
(1902-1987), who used irony to dissect the customs of the time, and
Manuel Bandeira (1886-1968), who built language associations around
proverbs and popular expressions. Bandeira wanted his last poem "to
be eternal, saying the simplest and least intentional things".
The modern Brazilian novel took on a new shape and social content after
José Américo de Almeida (1887-1969) wrote A Bagaceira,
a pioneer story about the harsh conditions of life in the backward
northeast. He was followed by Jorge Amado (1902-), Graciliano Ramos
(1892-1953), José Lins do Rego (1901-1957), and Rachel de Queiroz
(1910-), all noted for the power of their images in evoking the problems
and hardships of life in the northeast region where they were born.
Jorge Amado's first novels, translated
into 33 languages, were heavily influenced by his belief in Marxist
ideas and concentrated on the sufferings of workers on the cocoa plantations
of his home state of Bahia and on humble fishermen in seaside villages.
In the 1950's he opted for a more jovial approach to the joys and sorrows
of the middle classes of Bahia, producing a succession of books which
have received worldwide acclaim. Gabriela, Cravo e Canela (Gabriela,
Clove and Cinnamon) is perhaps the best known of Amado's books. Dona
Flôr e seus Dois Maridos (Dona Flôr and Her two Husbands)
has provided the scripts for films, plays, and television. Arguably
the most innovative Brazilian writer of his century was João
Guimarães Rosa (1908-1967). A career diplomat, he first captured
the attention of the public and critics alike with a volume of short
stories, Sagarana, soon followed by his best known work Grande Sertão:
Veredas, translated into English as The Devil to Pay in the Backlands.
Delving deep into speech mannerisms from the hinterland region of the
eastern seaboard, Guimarães Rosa started something of a semantic
revolution. He dared to present his readers with coined word combinations
and syntax so unrestrained as to constitute almost a new language.
There are many other noteworthy Brazilian
writers. Gilberto Freyre (1900-1987), a master of style and a pioneer
of the new school of Brazilian sociologists, is the author of Casa
Grange & Senzala (The Masters and The Slaves) a perceptive study
of Brazilian society. One of the best known Brazilian poets is João
Cabral de Melo Neto (1918-). His poetry is sober and he uses words
with the accuracy with which an engineer would use his building materials.
Special mention must be made of Vinicius de Moraes (1913-1980). His
poetry became part and parcel of the bossa nova musical movement which
produced a new style of samba, that typically Brazilian rhythm. Vinicius
(as he is known worldwide) also wrote a play, Orfeu da Conceição,
which became internationally famous as the film Black Orpheus.
Among the living or recently deceased
novelists, mention should be made of: Orígenes Lessa, Adonias
Filho, Érico Veríssimo, Dinah Silveira de Queiroz, Lygia
Fagundes Telles, Herberto Sales, Rubem Fonseca, Clarice Lispector,
Dalton Trevisan, Nélida Pinõn, Osman Lins, and Moacir
Scliar; and among the poets: Raul Bopp, Murilo Mendes, Augusto Frederico
Schmidt, Mário Quintana, Cassiano Ricardo, Jorge de Lima, Ferreira
Gullar, Cecília Meireles, Augusto de Campos, and Haroldo de
Campos.
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