Knowing the historical context referring to a given period is a determining factor for the study and understanding of the aesthetics that permeated the Brazilian literature.
The social and political panorama are the guiding lines regarding the construction of the ideological profile regarding the large artists in general, as they feel influenced by this "context" and express their vision through their construction.
Such a view can have both a negative and a positive character, and it can function as a kind of adherence to the molds, or as a way of criticizing them.
As soon as the proclamation of the Republic took place, Brazil had two military presidents: Deodoro da Fonseca and Floriano Peixoto. This period, between 1889 and 1894, was known as the Republic of the Sword, a phase in which the Armada Revolt and the Federalist Revolution took place.
From 1894, with the inauguration of President Prudente de Morais, a new phase began in the Brazilian scenario: the Café-com-Leite Republic, in which power was concentrated in the hands of the large farmers, more precisely the coffee growers.
This time, a huge economic disparity was implemented, that is, while the South and Southeast developed in a forceful way, the Northeast entered into decline due to the sugarcane crisis.
The worst part of all this was recognizing that the so-called “republican” regime did nothing to change this level, as power was concentrated in the hands of the elite, while the other social strata yearned for transformations.
All this climate of dissatisfaction was absorbed by the artists of that time, and notwithstanding, Monteiro Lobato, through his book of short stories - “Urupês”, makes a denunciation with reference to all the problems that marked the life of Brazilians, especially of the region of the Paraíba Valley.
character creation Jeca Armadillo, which reveals the prototype of the Brazilian hillbilly, was the target of criticism by influential people and health doctors, but for literature, it revealed a character totally alienated from the corrupt society, who for lack of financial resources lived in a mediocre and marginalized.
The children's works he created made him one of the best writers of all time, that in a transcendent way conquered its audience, making its creations become immortals. Among them, the following stand out: Sítio do Pica-Pau Amarelo, Emilia in the country of Grammar, Stories of Aunt Anastácia, among others.
Now let's see some fragments extracted from the tale - "Urupes":
"Poor Jeca Armadillo! How beautiful it is in the novel and ugly in reality!
Jeca merchant, Jeca farmer, Jeca philosopher... p.90
His great care is to squeeze all the consequences of the law of least effort - and in this he goes far.
It starts at the address. Its thatch and mud house makes the animals that live in the den smile and laugh to the joão-de-barro [...] Furniture no. The bed is a long periphery mat placed on the unpaved floor [...] No cutlery [...] No cupboards or chests. The clothes, keep them on the body. He only has two devices; one that brings in use and the other in washing. [...] Their remote non-grandparents enjoyed greater comfort. Your grandchildren will not put a fourth leg to the bench. For what? You can live well without it." p.91
We note that here Monteiro Lobato portrays the terrible living conditions of the caboclo in relation to his ignorance, living in a complete state of inertia and lacking perspective on changes in the social aspect.
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
By Vânia Duarte
Graduated in Letters
Brazil School Team
Modernism - Literature - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
DUARTE, Vânia Maria do Nascimento. "Monteiro Lobato and its pre-modernist authenticity"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/literatura/monteiro-lobato-sua-autenticidade-premodernista.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
