LITERATURE From masters to apprentices Eduardo Nunomura LÉO RAMOS LÉO 72 SPECIAL _ ESPECIALESPECIAL USP 80 80 A AATNONO 80SS usp usp The university’s contribution in fields such as literary theory and film criticism continues alnice Nogueira Galvão was his first assistant Wand still remembers the details of the years during which they worked together, such as when she learned that a well taught class should be contained in four typewritten pag- es. Celso Lafer affectionately remembers the care with which he always taught those who studied with him. Maria Augusta Bernardes Fonseca revered him as a brilliant conversa- tionalist who could listen to the contributions of others with respect and attention. They are all remembering Antonio Candido, critic and essayist, and professor emeritus of the Univer- sity of São Paulo (USP) School of Philosophy, Literature, and Human Sciences. He is also known as “the master,” as Galvão, Lafer, Fon- seca and so many others who worked with one of the key thinkers in Brazil prefer to call him. Fonseca passed her qualifying exam for promotion from assistant to associate profes- sor at USP in 2006 and, the following year, PESQUISA FAPESP DECEMBER 2014 73 began to coordinate research projects It was undergraduate course Theory (1866-1952), “a passionate Hegelian on the legacy of the works of Antonio and Analysis of the Novel, introduced historian,” and the rise of that of An- Candido. There have been three so far. by Candido in the 1960s, that resulted tonio Gramsci (1891-1932), “a Marxist The first on his essays, the second fo- in the Department of Literary Theory profoundly interested in the complexity cusing on interviews, and the third and and Comparative Literature at FFLCH of culture, especially literature.” “After current studying the prefaces he wrote. and its journal, Literatura e sociedade. my return to Brazil, rereading Otto Ma- “As you can see, they are different facets, Celso Lafer, the president of FAPESP, ria Carpeaux and Antonio Candido as- with different objectives. Each contains took this course. “His Intellectual au- siduously, my influences also changed, the brilliance of his critical thority is that of a great without losing sight of the intricacies creativity and versatility,” master who, over the of culturalism and the stylistic reading explains the researcher. years, has become a of texts. Perhaps a desire to display the Since the first proj- landmark of Brazilian riches of different perspectives resulted ect, she has been collect- Formação da culture,” stated Lafer from this syncretic moment, sensitive ing summaries based on in an article published to the multiplicity of critical views. I the “master’s” views on literatura in the 2009 Literatura sought to transmit this to students, ini- literature. Her first con- e Sociedade issue com- tially as a professor of Italian litera- tact with his works was brasileira, memorating Candido’s ture,” says Bosi, who formulated this Formação da literatura Candido’s 90th birthday. In it, he approach in O ser e o tempo da poesia brasileira (The formation discusses the role Law (Man and time in poetry), a book pub- of Brazilian literature), seminal work, School played in Anto- lished in 1977. Candido’s seminal book, nio Candido’s career. USP professor emeritus Walnice first published in 1959 and was published Yes, in 1939 the “mas- Nogueira Galvão, a fundamental ref- still a fundamental con- ter” took and passed erence in studies of the works of Eu- tribution to the creation in 1959 the entrance exams to clides da Cunha (1866-1909) and Gui- of awareness of Brazilian- study both social sci- marães Rosa (1908-1967), affirms that ness. It was while pursu- ence and law. He com- Antonio Candido was the best profes- ing her master’s degree, pleted his degree in the sor she had on “five continents,” and in the 1970s, focused on former, but did not fin- with whom she became friends. She Oswald de Andrade’s “Serafim Ponte ish the latter, despite staying with the visits him weekly and, when she travels Grande,” that Fonseca had the oppor- course through the fifth year. abroad, she visits him both before leav- tunity to attend his lectures, “long, but “We are children of our times and ing and when returning. With 40 books tireless for the 200 students who filled our schooling,” says Alfredo Bosi, pro- published, Galvão remembers the time the classroom.” The researcher came to fessor emeritus of Brazilian literature when she was working on her thesis for see him as a “wellspring of criticism” at USP, referring to the eclectic uni- promotion from assistant to associate given the variety and plurality of the versity environment of the late 1950s. professor, in 1972, when Candido, even aspects that he discusses in his essays. “Studying literature provided us with though he was not a specialist on Eu- And this also serves as a lesson for Fon- both the historical and aesthetic seca’s students studying Brazilian mod- dimensions of literary texts, to- ernism. “You cannot avoid reading An- gether with respect for philo- tonio Candido when you are studying logical scholarship, which was Oswald de Andrade, Mário de Andrade, an asset, because we were not Manuel Bandeira, Carlos Drummond imprisoned by any prior system. de Andrade, Aníbal Machado and oth- But as the political climate of ers,” she states. the 1960s heated up even be- fore the military coup, feeding LITERATURE AND SOCIETY leftist reform projects, our con- The current faculty in the literary the- ception of literature and culture ory and comparative literature depart- also changed from a fusion of ment at FFLCH no longer follow the existentialism and idealism to same critical lineage focusing on the a view in which consideration relationships between literature and of social determination weighed society, an approach that the “master” more strongly and occupied the still defends. But there is no lack of re- forefront of reflection on the searchers, such as Joaquim Alves de nature and function of litera- Aguiar, Betina Bischof and Ana Paula ture. Pacheco, who are fully dedicating them- Bosi studied in Florence for selves to, or in some way embracing, a brief period, in 1961-1962, 1 the study of Antonio Candido’s works and saw the decline in the in- Walnice Nogueira Galvão: Antonio Candido was her best in their research. fluence of Benedetto Croce professor “on five continents” 74 SPECIAL USP AT 80 2 Roberto Schwarz: critic of the works of Machado de Assis, he remains an influence in the Literary Theory, Brazilian Literature and Modern Literature departments clides da Cunha, endeavored to help her Schwarz, together with history as represented in find references on the author. “Antonio Leôncio Martins Ro- cultural production,” she Candido was always concerned about drigues, Francisco Wef- states. teaching others, and he did this by shar- fort, Gabriel Bollaffi, Mi- “We are Cevasco explains that ing with them his love of literature.” chael Löwy and Bento the work of Schwarz, Prado Júnior, was among children one of the greatest critics DIALECTICAL CRITICISM the most assiduous stu- of Machado de Assis, is Although he advised many disciples dents. In an interview of our times still read in the Literary who are now lauded in intellectual with Pesquisa FAPESP and our Theory, Brazilian Litera- circles, such as Galvão, Davi Arrigu- in April 2004, Schwarz ture and Modern Litera- cci, João Luiz Lafetá and José Miguel stated that the seminar schooling,” ture departments at USP. Wisnik, Antonio Candido’s most direct on Marx was decisive in Cevasco has published heir is Robert Schwarz. Professor of his education because it says Alfredo articles in French and literary theory and comparative litera- “required critical reflec- English, book chapters, ture at USP (until 1968) and of literary tion about contempo- Bosi, professor and organized a book of theory at Unicamp (1978-1992), he ab- rary society” and, at the emeritus reflections on Um mes- sorbed from the “master” the method of same time, distanced it- tre na periferia do capi- criticism that seeks to understand the self from the “clumsy un- talismo (A master on the complex relationships between literary derstanding” that com- periphery of capitalism), N form and social process. Schwarz was munist parties had of Marx at the time. published in 1990, one of Schwarz’s OYAYA his student as an undergraduate in so- Maria Elisa Cevasco, full professor in most emblematic essays. “His way of B UEL cial sciences, in 1958, the same year in the USP Modern Languages Depart- reading demonstrates that the literary G MI which he was a member of the iconic ment, reminds us of the importance of form is an abstraction of existing social 2 group in the seminar on Capital, by Karl Schwarz’s dialectical criticism to young relationships,” explains Cevasco. “This ESAR C Marx, which also consisted of the intel- students as early as the 1970s, and it type of analysis allows us to see that lectuals Ruth and Fernando Henrique remains an important part of thinking artistic form is a synthesis that allows EDUARDO 1 Cardoso (later president of Brazil), Oc- for USP students. “His works continue us to intuitively understand social in- tavio Ianni, Fernando Novais, Paul Sing- to teach us to construct criticism that teractions, thus providing us with the PHOTOS er and José Arthur Giannotti. Roberto helps us decipher the real changes in elements needed to judge them.” n PESQUISA FAPESP DECEMBER 2014 75.