Brazilian and Lusophone Literature
Brazilian and Lusophone literature is the Portuguese-language writing of Brazil and the wider Lusophone world, from Machado de Assis to modernism and beyond.
Definition
Portuguese-language literature of Brazil and the Lusophone world, from colonial and realist writing through Brazilian modernism to contemporary fiction.
Scope
This topic covers Portuguese-language literature centered on Brazil, with attention to the broader Lusophone world, including Portuguese-speaking Africa. It spans colonial and romantic literature, the realism of Machado de Assis, the Brazilian modernist movement launched by the 1922 Week of Modern Art, the regionalist novel, and contemporary fiction. It treats Brazil's distinctive cultural synthesis and the place of Lusophone writing in Latin American and world literature.
Core questions
- How did Brazilian literature develop a distinctive identity in Portuguese?
- What made Machado de Assis a central figure?
- What was Brazilian modernism and the 1922 Week of Modern Art?
- How does Lusophone African literature relate to Brazilian writing?
Key concepts
- Brazilian modernism
- cultural anthropophagy
- the regionalist novel
- realism
- Lusophone literature
Key theories
- Brazilian modernist cultural synthesis
- The Brazilian modernists, especially Mario and Oswald de Andrade, theorized a national culture that 'devoured' and transformed foreign influences, captured in the idea of cultural anthropophagy.
History
Brazilian literature developed from colonial and romantic beginnings into the sophisticated realism of Machado de Assis in the late nineteenth century. The 1922 Week of Modern Art launched Brazilian modernism, with its ideal of cultural anthropophagy, followed by the regionalist novel, the experimental fiction of Guimaraes Rosa and Lispector, and a vibrant contemporary literature, alongside Lusophone writing from Portugal and Africa.
Debates
- National identity and foreign influence
- Critics debate how Brazilian literature negotiated foreign models and national identity, a question the modernists addressed through cultural anthropophagy.
Key figures
- Machado de Assis
- Mario de Andrade
- Joao Guimaraes Rosa
- Clarice Lispector
- Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria
Related topics
Seminal works
- machado1899
- andrade1928
- rosa1956
Frequently asked questions
- Why is Brazilian literature studied separately from Spanish American?
- Brazil's literature is written in Portuguese and has a distinct history, so it is treated as a separate Lusophone tradition within the broader Latin American field.
- What was the Week of Modern Art?
- Held in Sao Paulo in 1922, it was the founding event of Brazilian modernism, championing new artistic forms and a self-consciously national, modern culture.