The prevalence of the memoir over the novel in narratives about the Brazilian military dictatorship

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/2316-40185813

Keywords:

Brazilian military dictatorship, novel, history, memoirs

Abstract

This paper explains the gradual decline of novels about the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985) and the rise of the memoir genre, to such an extent that the latter has become the main historical source for decades, according to the historian Carlos Fico. The memoir narratives are hitherto far more published than novels. Justification for this draws on Merton, Russell, Avelar, and Fico to bring together epistemological, literary, and historical arguments. Carlos Eugênio Paz's Viagem à luta armada (1996) is used as a case study. We suggest that the prevalence of the memoir genre is due to: a) the idea of an “epistemological privilege” regarding those people directly affected by the dictatorship; b) the concern that fiction could mislead the versions of the past taken to be true by different groups. This essay challenges both positions.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

AVELAR, Alexandre de Sá (2012). História, tempo presente e testemunho: ainda em torno dos limites da representação. Revista Marcanan, Rio de Janeiro, v. 8, n. 8, p. 29-58.
CARDOSO, Lucileide (2012). Criações da memória ”“ Defensores e críticas da ditadura. Cruz das Almas: Editora da UFRB.
CATELA, Ludimila da Silva (2006). Presentación. In: POLLAK, Michael. Memória, olvido, silencio. La producción social de identidades frente a situaciones límite. La Plata: Al Margem. p. 9-15.
DALCASTAGNÈ, Regina (1996). O espaço da dor: o regime de 64 no romance brasileiro. Brasília: Editora da UnB.
FICO, Carlos (2004). Versões e controvérsias sobre 1964 e a ditadura militar. Revista Brasileira de História, São Paulo, v. 24, n. 47, p. 29-60.
FRANCO, Renato (1998a). Itinerário político do romance pós-64: A festa. São Paulo: Editora da Unesp.
FRANCO, Renato (1998b). O romance de resistência dos anos 70. In: INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION (LASA), 21., 24 a 26 set. 1998, Chicago. Proceedings... Pittsburgh: LASA.
FRANCO, Renato (2015). Narrar o socialmente esquecido. Constelaciones: Revista de Teoría Crítica, n.7, dez., p. 202-221.
GABEIRA, Fernando (1979). O que é isso, companheiro? Rio de janeiro: Codecri.
GALVÃO, Walnice Nogueira (2014). Letras e artes: resistindo. Teoria e Debate, n. 122, 28 mar. On-line. Disponível em: https://bit.ly/2zo33Kt. Acesso em: 20 fev. 2018.
GINZBURG, Jaime (2001). Escritas da tortura. Diálogos Latinoamericanos, Aarhus, n. 3, p. 131-146.
KOLLERITZ, Fernando (2004). Testemunho, juízo político e história. Revista Brasileira de História, São Paulo, v. 24, n. 48, p.73-100.
LAUB, Dori (1995). Truth and testimony: the process and the struggle. In: CARUTH, C. (Org). Trauma. Explorations in memory. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 61-75.
LEGEUNE, Philippe (1989). The autobiographical pact. On autobiography. Tradução de Katherine Leary, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 3-30.
LUNGARETTI, Celso (2005). Náufrago da utopia. São Paulo: Geração.
MATHIAS, Marcello Duarte (2001). Autobiografias e diários: a memória dos outros. Lisboa: Gótica. p. 163-202.
MERTON, Robert (1972). Insiders and outsiders: a chapter in the sociology of knowledge. American Journal of Sociology, v. 78, n. 1, p. 9-47.
NETO, Godofredo de Oliveira (2011). Amores exilados. Rio de Janeiro: Record.
PAZ, Carlos Eugênio (1996/2009). Viagem à luta armada: memórias da guerrilha. Rio de Janeiro: BestBolso.
PELLEGRINI, Tânia (1987). Gavetas vazias? Uma abordagem da narrativa brasileira dos anos 1970. 252 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Teoria Literária) ”“ Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas.
PHILLIPS, Mark Salber (2003). Relocating inwardness: historical distance and the transition from enlightenment to romantic historiography. PMLA, v. 118, n. 3, Special Issue: Imagining History, May, p. 436-449.
RIBEIRO, Maria Cláudia Badan (2005). Memória, história e sociedade: a contribuição da narrativa de Carlos Eugênio Paz. 283 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Sociologia) ”“ Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas.
RODRIGUES, Maria Fernanda (2011). Páginas do país passado a limpo. O Estado de S. Paulo, 26 nov. On-line. Disponível em: https://bit.ly/2ku5Myd. Acesso em: 20 fev. 2018.
RUIVO, Marina Silva (2005). Literatura e resistência: estudo comparado de Viagem à luta armada, de Carlos Eugênio Paz, e A geração da utopia, de Pepetela. 285 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Letras) ”“ Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo.
RUSSELL, Bertrand (1912/2001). Knowledge by acquaintence and knowledge by description. In: RUSSELL, Bertrand. The problems of philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 25-32.
RUSSELL, Bertrand (1918). Knowledge by acquaintance and knowledge by description. In: RUSSELL, Bertrand. Mysticism and logic and other essays. New York, London: Longmans, Green & Co. p. 209”“232.
SELIGMANN-SILVA, Márcio (2008). Narrar o trauma: a questão dos testemunhos de catástrofes históricas. Psicologia Clínica, Rio de Janeiro, v. 20, n. 1, p. 65-82.
TAPAJÓS, Renato (1977). Em câmara lenta. São Paulo: Alfa Omega.
TOZZI, Verónica (2012). The epistemic and moral role of testimony. History and Theory, v. 51, n. 1, p. 1-17.

Downloads

Published

2019-10-30

How to Cite

Borges, M. . (2019). The prevalence of the memoir over the novel in narratives about the Brazilian military dictatorship. Estudos De Literatura Brasileira Contemporânea, (58), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1590/2316-40185813

Issue

No. 58 (2019): New Poetics of Migrancy - Leonardo Tonus (ed.)

Section

Free Theme Section

License

Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:

a) The authors maintain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, the work being simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License-Non Commercial 4.0 which allows the sharing of the work with acknowledgment of the authorship of the work and publication this journal.

b) Authors are authorized to enter into additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (eg publish in institutional repository or as a book chapter), with authorship recognition and publication in this journal.

c) Authors are allowed and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (eg in institutional repositories or on their personal page) after the editorial process, as this can generate productive changes, as well as increase the impact and citation of published work (See The Effect of Free Access).

d) The authors of the approved works authorize the magazine to, after publication, transfer its content for reproduction in content crawlers, virtual libraries and the like.

e) The authors assume that the texts submitted to the publication are of their original creation, being fully responsible for their content in the event of possible opposition by third parties.