Date of Award
Spring 2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Spanish and Portuguese
First Advisor
Jackson, Kenneth
Abstract
This dissertation is a meta-critical comparative study of the literary and historiographical models ofBrazilian literature: that of Antonio Candido, in his magnum opus Formação de literatura brasileira, following the Romantic historiographical tradition, saw Brazilian literature as the national embodiment of what he calls the “Western spirit”, of which Brazilian literature is forcefully a “lesser branch”; and that of Haroldo de Campos, who, in his turn, will reframe Candido’s formative process, in light of the deconstructionist theories of Derrida, Walter Benjamin’s philosophy of history and Oswald de Andrade’s “antropofagia”. He will then advocate for a contercanon in which the idea of formation is less relevant than that of transformation, based on rupture instead of linearity and continuity. In that sense, Campos will then focus on minor figures in Candido’s model, such as the sixteenth century poet Gregório de Matos, the nineteenth century Romantic poet Sousândrade. Through a comparative study of these two historiographical models, the dissertation discusses, hence, the aesthetics and the politics of the canon of Brazilian literature.
Recommended Citation
Reis da Silva Louro, Gustavo, "Trans-formação da Literatura Brasileira: Haroldo de Campos Revê Antonio Candido" (2024). Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations. 1253.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/gsas_dissertations/1253
