Brazilian Literature: Colonial to National, Political Influence, National Identity

1. Brazil: An ecologicalview (...and politics, of course) Miguel López 24.11.2017

2. Versiónoficial: http://www.itamaraty.gov.br/en/sustainable-development-and-environment Ejemplo de catástrofes: https://www.elobservador.com.uy/la-tragedia-ambiental-brasil-el-aire-n698305 Soya: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/soy/consumers/ Pueblosindígenas https://pib.socioambiental.org/en

6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fordl%C3%A2ndia http://wn.com/Fordland_in_the_Amazon Fordlândia Rubber Jungle (this movie) The Burning Season (Hollywood) http://www.youtube.com/user/rubberjungles

8. Leer este texto: http://www.dandubowitz.net/photographic-series/fordlandia/ http://www.dandubowitz.net/ Henry Ford'sAbandonedFactory in the Amazon - Brazil with Michael Palin - BBC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYr8SicU5ck In the middle of the Amazon, the hauntedremains of Fordlandia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbFY94d51Tw • ChicoMendes • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqgB2bzFrtg • A partir de 5, 6 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpNlzs8k5VE

9. Source: https://www.enotes.com/topics/brazilian-literature • Brazilian Literature (1) • Deeply concerned with the development of a Brazilian national identity and culture, Brazilian literature can be divided into two major periods: colonial and national. • Brazilian colonial literature largely focused on historical and geographical issues, often telling stories of the Portuguese conquest, the wars fought by various native peoples, and the explorations of the Brazilian interior in epic narratives. • Many Jesuit missionaries also contributed to the body of Brazilian writing. • In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the city of Bahia formed the epicenter of Brazilian culture and literature, followed by a shift to Minas Gerais, a mining town. • Literary activities of the period continued to center around epic stories narrating events such as the war with Spain and other Portuguese conquests. • Although colonial subjects continued to be a significant part of Brazilian literary activity in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there was simultaneous development of writing that was concerned with more nationalistic subjects.

10. Brazilian Literature (2) • In the late-nineteenth century, becoming more concerned with local and nationalist themes. Other novelists and writers, such as José de Alencar, continued this trend, exploring native Indian themes in works such as O Guarani (1857; The Guarani Indian). • With the works of novelist Mario de Andrade, Brazilian literature moved from the realm of Romanticism and Naturalism, with its focus on social and realistic themes, to experiments in language and folklore. Andrade's only novel, Macunaíma: o Heróisemnenhumcaráter (1928) is often cited as a major example of linguistic experimental literature. • In the twentieth century, authors such as Jorge Amado and Clarice Lispector, as well as a variety of others, continued the focus on Brazilian history and culture in their works. • One of the most enduring themes of Brazilian literature has been the issue of national identity • Impact of the political and social scene in Brazil on its writers and artists. • The next major change in the Brazilian literary scene occurred in the 1930s, following the Brazilian Revolution of 1930. Once again, scholars have pointed out the close link between the literature of Brazil and the political climate of the nation. Conflict between the country's colonial and European past and the emerging sense of nationalism, the struggle between modernism and technology versus the traditionally powerful sectors of the country, and the imbalance of power between society and state, all affected the literature produced during this time. These years also marked the beginning of the modernist movement in Brazil.

11. Brazilian Literature (3) • Modernist writing in Brazil is characterized by a break from traditional forms of writing, and is reflective of the struggle between the cosmopolitanism of pre-revolutionary Brazil and the culturally and nationally conscious Brazil following the revolution. This tension is reflected in the works of such authors as Carlos Drummond de Andrade. The modernist movement was given even further impetus by President Vargas's call to Brazilian intellectuals to integrate and address issues of everyday reality in their works and thus participate actively in the act of nation-building. • By the mid-1940s, Brazilian modernism was being slowly replaced by a new generation of poets and writers. • Today the language is reflective of the self-recognition and apprehension many of these writers feel as they articulate a feminine perspective on life in Brazilian society. Similarly, old paradigms of slavery and oppression are being replaced with a new sense of multicultural identity in the writings of Afro-Brazilian authors. • Even during the early twentieth century, when writers such as Amado began presenting positive images of blacks in their writing, black characters were highly stereotypical. Not until the 1980s did Brazilian literature begin portraying blacks as an integral, vital, and positive part of society.

12. Euclides da Cunha 1866-1909 Sertão (Backcountry-”the end of the world”) Os Sertões- Rebellion in the Backlands (1902) Themes: The land, the man, the fight. Journalist, reporter style, novel. Social criticism. Main character: Antônio Conselheiro ”Anthony the Counselor” The literature of the north-east.

13. Jorge Amado (1912-2001) • 1978 • Bahia • Latin american boom • Jubiabá (1935) • Modernism (= no realism) • Magic realism = blends magical or fantastical elements with reality

14. Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands “Heated passions, conjugal harmony, the rhythms of the samba, and the delectable joys of cooking” “Caught up in the pandemonium of carnival, the roguish and irresponsible Vadinho dos Guimaraes dies during a parade, leaving behind his long suffering wife, the irrepressible Dona Flor. As a widow, Flor devotes herself to her cooking school and an assortment of interfering but well-meaning friends who urge her to remarry. The lonely widow finds herself attracted to Dr. Teodoro Madureria, a kind, considerate pharmacist, who is everything the reckless Vadinho was not. Yet after their marriage, though content, Flor longs for her first husband's amorous, and exhausting, sensual pleasures. And Flor's desirous longing is so powerful that it brings the ghost of Vadinho back from the grave--right into her bed.” (WP, Amazon)