Authoritarianism and violence in Portuguese-language literatures: Graciliano Ramos, Branquinho da Fonseca and Luís Bernardo Honwana

Abstract

In this article we perform an exercise of comparative literature of the works Vidas Secas (1938, Barren Lives), by Graciliano Ramos, Nós matamos o Cão-Tinhoso (1964, We killed Mangy Dog), by Luís Bernardo Honwana, and Bandeira Preta (1956, Black Flag), by Branquinho da Fonseca, in order to think, mainly, about the presence of violence in their plots. The intention is not to establish a center of influence, as we are following Silviano Santiago’s request [2000(1971)], but to considerate some senses of those fictional constructions, notably what is related to language and the narrative form, from the comparative exercise. We also seek to peer how the characters receive the historical landscapes, or yet to identify how they resist to the violence present on those landscapes.

Keywords

• literatura comparada
• literaturas de língua portuguesa
• violência.