José Guilherme Merquior e o modernismo brasileiro: transformação crítica entre 1965 e 1990

Abstract

This work aims at explaining the process of critical transformation in the work of José Guilherme Merquior (1941-1991) in relation to the modernist movement, especially in Brazil, a process that occurred between 1965 and 1990. For this, we analyzed some contributions of this author for Brazilian literary criticism. The essayist and diplomat begins his critical analysis of Brazilian Modernism in his first book, Razão do poema, published in 1965, in which he presents himself as an enthusiast of the process of canonization Brazilian Modernism, especially the generation of 1922. In an essay on the advantages of the modernist movement in Brazil, Merquior highlights the importance of poets like Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Murilo Mendes and João Cabral de Melo Neto for Brazilian literature. He also mentions regionalism and the importance of the novel of 30, like Vidas secas (1938). From 1965 to 1990, however, there is a process of transformation in Merquior‟s thought, since in the 1980s and 1990s the critic began to highlight negative aspects of modernist art in books such as As ideias e as formas (1981) and O Fantasma romântico e outros ensaios (1980). At this point, the author is dedicated to analyzing the problems of art in Modernity, the crisis of culture and the fragility of avant-garde movements. Merquior himself mentions the divergence in his analysis of Modernism, stating that the change in his thinking is due to his intellectual maturation. Still in 1965, it mentions his dissatisfaction with the generation of 45 of the Brazilian Modernism, a feeling that is accentuated in the 1980s. With a look at this panorama of Merquior's work, this dissertation presents a metacritical analysis, highlighting the divergent points of the Merquiorian analysis in the decades of his productivity. In order to enrich the discussion, it was necessary to resort to other critics' ideas: some, such as the author studied, present positive and negative aspects of Brazilian Modernism, and others, for having themed and discussed the thought of José Guilherme Merquior himself.