CLÁSSICOS BRASILEIROS BRAZILIAN CLASSICS - Imprensa Oficial

Brazilian Classics
A selection of authors with works in public domain
76
JOSÉ VERÍSSIMO
(1857 – 1916)
Adhering to the motto "criticizing is
understanding," José Veríssimo sidestepped
the naturalistic scientism that had thrilled the
critical thinking in his time. If it is true that his
work stands out also because of the nationalist
shade he tries to introduce in his analyses, he
doesn't do so to the extent of privileging the
sociological factor, as it is the case of Romero.
According to Veríssimo's conception, the
superior literary value should always be that of
an artistic purpose.
Review
Main works
Excerpt
History of Brazilian literature
The literature produced in Brazil is already the
expression of a thinking and feeling that cannot
be mistaken any more for the Portuguese, and in
such o way that despite the language community
is not entirely Portuguese any more. This is
altogether true since Romanticism, which marked
our literary emancipation, naturally following
our political independence. However, the feeling
promoting it and, mainly, distinguishing it, first
the nativistic spirit and then the nationalist
spirit, has been forming since our first literary
manifestations. The most significant is the fact
that the vassalage to the Portuguese spirit and
thinking has never managed to suppress it. It was
precisely the persistence of such a feeling in time
and space, literarily manifested, that gave our
literature its unity and justified its autonomy.
A realist critic
"Veríssimo, more than his critical group and generation peers, was an eminently realist spirit. Realist in the sense of seeking
more the works that their authors [...] of avoiding all encomiastic or derogatory adjectival use [...] and always meeting the
two plates on the balance, the pros and the cons of the work studied."
(Alceu Amoroso Lima, foreword to História da literatura brasileira)
A landmark in the literary critic
"In the case of José Veríssimo, nobody is in a position to belittle the role he played in the history of literary critic in Brazil.
[...] The aftereffect of his presence is readily perceived today, as clearly shown by the reprinting of his books [...]."
(Luiz Carlos Alves, Últimos estudos)
Estudos brasileiros. 2 Séries (1889-1904); Estudos de literatura. 6 Séries (1901-1907); Homens e coisas estrangeiras. 3 Séries
(1902-1908); História da literatura brasileira (1916); Que é literatura e outros escritos (1916); Letras e literatos (1936);
Últimos estudos de literatura brasileira (1979).