Literature almost always privileges the novel when it wants to portray reality, analyzing or denouncing it.
Brazil and the world went through deep crises in the 1930s and 40s, at that time the Brazilian novel stands out, as it places itself at the service of the critical analysis of reality.
The social, economic and political situation that existed in Brazil and in the world at the beginning of the 1930s – Nazi-fascism, the stock market crisis of New York, the coffee crisis, the fight against socialism – demanded from the artists a new attitude towards reality, a new position ideological.
In the prose, the interest in national themes, a more Brazilian language, with a more direct focus on the facts marked by Realism – Naturalism of the 19th century, was evident.
The novel focused on regionalism, mainly northeastern, where problems such as drought, migration, rural worker problems, misery and ignorance were highlighted.
In addition to regionalism, other themes also stood out, such as the urban and psychological novel, the poetic-metaphysical novel and the surrealist narrative.
The poetry of the 2nd modernist phase followed a path of maturation. In the formal aspect, free verse was the best resource to express the sensitivity of the new time, it is characterized as poetry of questioning: of human existence, of the feeling of “being-in-the-world”, social, religious, philosophical and loving restlessness.
Among the many poets and writers of this phase, we highlight:
In prose:
- Graciliano Ramos
- Rachel de Queiroz
- Jorge Amado
- José Lins do Rego
- Érico Verissimo
- Dionelius Machado
in poetry
- Carlos Drummond de Andrade
- Murilo Mendes
- Jorge de Lima
- Cecília Meireles
- Vinícius de Morais.
By Marina Cabral
Specialist in Portuguese Language and Literature
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/literatura/o-modernismo-no-brasil2-fase.htm
