One of the most important names in modern Brazilian literature, Ferreira Gullar, pseudonym of José Ribamar Ferreira, began his extensive literary production in 1940 in São Luís, Maranhão. The poet, art critic, translator and essayist moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1951, where, in addition to having participated in the creation of the neoconcrete movement, he collaborated with several newspapers and magazines of the era.
THE Ferreira Gullar's poetry stands out for its political engagement. The poet turned his work into an instrument of social denunciation and, although he later reconsidered old positions, he left it to literature an invaluable contribution through his poems that participate in the reality of the Brazilian people, which so well translate the yearnings of man in face of his condition. This engaged poetic production gained strength from the 1960s, when the poet broke with avant-garde poetry, joining the Popular Center for Culture (CPC), a group of left-wing intellectuals created in 1961, in Rio de Janeiro, whose objective was to defend the collective and didactic character of the work of art, as well as the political engagement of the artist.
Permeated by psychic and ideological tensions, Ferreira Gullar's poetry reflects the tensions experienced by the poet, persecuted by the Military Dictatorship and exiled in Argentina during the “years of lead”. The recognition of his work came late, in the 1990s, when the writer was awarded the most important literary awards in our country. In 2014, at the age of 84, Ferreira Gullar finally joined the Academy's group of immortal writers Brasileira de Letras, occupying Chair 37, which had belonged to the writer Ivan Junqueira, who died that same year.
So that you can learn a little more about the work of this writer, which is indispensable for understanding modern Brazilian literature, Brazil School selected five poems by Ferreira Gullar for you to enter the poetics of this one of the most engaged poets of ours letters. Good reading!
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
No vacancies
the price of beans
it doesn't fit in the poem. The price
of rice
it doesn't fit in the poem.
Gas doesn't fit in the poem
the light the phone
the evasion
of milk
of the meat
of sugar
of the bread
the civil servant
it doesn't fit in the poem
with your hunger salary
your closed life
in files.
As it doesn't fit in the poem
the worker
that grinds your steel day
and coal
in the dark workshops
- because the poem, gentlemen,
it is closed:
"no vacancies"
It only fits in the poem
the man without stomach
the woman of clouds
the priceless fruit
The poem, gentlemen,
doesn't stink
doesn't even smell
translate
A part of me
is everyone:
another part is nobody:
bottomless background.
A part of me
it's crowd:
other part strangeness
and loneliness.
A part of me
weigh, ponder:
Other part
delirious.
A part of me
lunch and dinner:
Other part
is amazed.
A part of me
is permanent:
Other part
you suddenly know.
A part of me
it's just vertigo:
Other part,
language.
Translate a part
in the other part
- which is a question
of life or death -
is it art?
On body
What is it worth trying to reconstruct with words
what did the summer take
Between clouds and laughter
Along with the old newspaper blown up
The dream in the mouth, the fire in the bed,
the call of the night
Now it's just this
contraction (this flash)
of the jaw inside the face.
Poetry is the gift.
Neoconcrete poems I
blue sea
blue sea blue landmark
blue sea blue landmark blue boat
blue sea blue landmark blue boat blue bow blue
blue sea blue frame blue boat blue bow blue air blue
Apprenticeship
Just as you opened yourself to joy
open up now to suffering
which is her fruit
and its ardent backside.
In the same way
what a joy you were
in the background
and got lost in it
and found you
in this loss
let the pain exert itself now
no lies
no excuses
and in your flesh vaporize
all illusion
that life only consumes
what feeds her.
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
PEREZ, Luana Castro Alves. "Five poems by Ferreira Gullar"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/literatura/cinco-poemas-ferreira-gullar.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.