THE SMELL OF THE (INS)URGENT FLOWER

the committed character of/in contemporary Brazilian literature

Abstract

From the notion of “committed literature”, presented by Antonio Candido in Formação da Literatura Brasileira, published in 1959, to translate the spirit of “mission” that figured in the artistic work of arcadian and romantic writers who tried to build a national identity and a valid Brazilian culture, this article aims to analyze how this “committed” character is still present in contemporary Brazilian literature. In this scenario, it is observed that the “committed” character not only persists, but also seems to have undergone a reconfiguration, a reinvention – now no longer with the desire to “build a nation”, but establishing itself through the displacement of hegemonic models , the legitimization of subaltern voices and the recognition of the need to produce other perspectives, often constituting an (ins)urgent power – which questions problems, abjections and political and social spaces through literary works that seek to re-signify voices historically subordinated, establishing a committed resistance.