brazilian bilingual book club| josÉ lins do rego | …

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature

#BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

©VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB –EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON All rights reserved - Creator & Convenor -©Nadia Kerecuk http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml

14-16 Cockspur Street London SW11Y 5BL

@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e1

BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB| JOSÉ LINS DO REGO | PUREZA | PUREZA. A BRAZILIAN NOVEL

2021 Celebrating the Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature


19th August 2021, 6.30-9 PM GMT UPDATED/REVISED REPEAT EDITION

Pureza (1937)

JOSÉ LINS DO REGO (1901- 1957) translated as

Pureza. A Brazilian Novel (1948)

http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml

https://www.facebook.com/BrazilEmbassyUK/

https://www.instagram.com/brazilembassyuk/

https://twitter.com/brazilembassyuk/





@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e2

A stunning novel by one of great Brazilian authors!

The timeless appeal of the romance of the steam railways and of the fictional landscape of Pureza, train station and hamlet, is a delightful 20th century page-turner!

How have people lived and reacted to the rapid spread of transmissible diseases

and absence of cures for them, dealing with ensuing depression, guilt, loneliness in history?

A novel worth revisiting in our pandemic times: inspirational actions to counter the vicissitudes which life brings such as mindful walking in a

magical paradise lost in the Atlantic Forest, reading fiction, and possibility of redeeming oneself through a self-critical appraisal and taking steps to achieve a better life!

Any 21st century young person (…or not so young) will promptly identify with the

protagonist: searching for direction in life, searching for the meaning of love, healing oneself from melancholy, depression in days marked by the railway timetable.

How to deal with the conundrum of loving …or is it lusting

after the two daughters of the station master?

How environmentally aware and effective were the British planting eucalyptus and other trees in Brazil nearly one hundred and fifty years ago?

Discover the history of the Great Western of Brazil Railway Company Limited:

a group of enterprising Brits met and created the Great Western of Brazil Railway Company Limited in London in1872, a Brazilian counterpart of the UK Great Western Railway Company. Rail concessions have a long history: the Great Western was granted the first concession ever

to build a railway in Pernambuco linking Recife to Limoeiro in Imperial Brazil in 1875! Originally, the line linked the Largo do Brum Station in Recife to the Pureza Station, close to

the place where the state of Pernambuco borders with the state of Paraíba.

Our book club also read José Lins do Rego’s Menino de engenho (1932) translated into English as Plantation Boy (1966) in July 2018.

https://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/Londres/en-us/file/BRAZILIAN%20BILINGUAL%20BOOK%20CLUB%2019th%20July%20Menino%20do%20Engenho%20(19

32)%20by%20J_%20Lins%20do%20Rego%20(1901-1957)%20for%20the%20web(2).pdf

Details of available publications: ENGLISH 1947-8 Pureza – A novel of Brazil translated by Lucie Marion published by Hutchinson in the Series - International Authors First novel series no. 3, London, New York, Melbourne, Sidney, Cape Town. 1968 Reprint Pureza – A novel of Brazil of the 1948 edition





https://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/Londres/en-us/file/BRAZILIAN%20BILINGUAL%20BOOK%20CLUB%2019th%20July%20Menino%20do%20Engenho%20(1932)%20by%20J_%20Lins%20do%20Rego%20(1901-1957)%20for%20the%20web(2).pdf







@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e3

PORTUGUESE 1937 Pureza Livraria José Olympio Editora, 1ª edição, Rio de Janeiro. Various editions and reprints available to date: ISBN-10: 8503010607 ISBN-13: 978-8503010603 ISBN-10: 8503004984 ISBN-13: 978-8503004985 Free download: 13th edition 2012 https://lelivros.love/book/baixar-livro-pureza-jose-lins-do-rego-em-pdf-epub-e-mobi-ou-ler-online/

SHORT HISTORY OF THE BOOK AND TRANSLATION

Pureza was the first novel by José Lins do Rego to be translated in English, published in 1948. However, this novel has somehow fallen into oblivion both in Brazil and abroad. At the time of its publication in Brazil, it enjoyed significant acclaim with various editions. The novel certainly allows numerous readings. In fact, it is particularly befitting to our current pandemic circumstances.

The psychological and socio-historical content in Pureza remains as relevant as it was in pre-World War Two period when it was written. Eighty-four years after its publication, revisiting the novel will certainly offer insights in how people live and react to the rapid spread of transmissible diseases and absence of cures for them, dealing with ensuing depression, guilt, loneliness and how children are affected by such episodes. The reader will also find inspirational actions to counter the vicissitudes which life bring such as mindful walking among trees in the countryside, reading fiction, and redeeming oneself through a self-critical appraisal take steps to move on in life. This fictional life journey takes places in the tropical Atlantic Forest northeast of Brazil when exciting industrial and economic developments were enhanced by the arrival of railways and specifically of the Great Western Railway of Brazil linking hamlets, sugar mills and towns. Equally, fascinating is the planting of trees, eucalyptus and other species, by the Great Western and other British in Brazil.





https://lelivros.love/book/baixar-livro-pureza-jose-lins-do-rego-em-pdf-epub-e-mobi-ou-ler-online/

https://lelivros.love/book/baixar-livro-pureza-jose-lins-do-rego-em-pdf-epub-e-mobi-ou-ler-online/





@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e4

José Lins do Rego is usually remembered for his five novels about the sugar cane

plantations and industry in the northeast of Brazil: Menino de Engenho (1932) which was translated in English as Plantation Boy (1966), Doidinho (1933) translated as Doidinho (1966), Bangüê (1934) translated as Bangüê (1966), O Moleque Ricardo (1935) and Usina (1936). Most literary histories and critical overviews have created a flawed impression that only the first five novels deal with the sugar cane theme. Often, this assertion has been regurgitated without due critical appraisal or by those who have never read Pureza or other subsequent novels. Rare voices have argued that Pureza is a thematic condensation of the earlier novels in a more complex and enticing novel. Readers will soon realize that the claim that the author left the theme of sugar plantations behind is not accurate.

The novel Pureza is dedicated to the poet Manuel Bandeira (1886-1968), which regrettably was omitted in the translation: A MANUEL BANDEIRA

José Lins do Rego may have chosen the dedication to Manuel Bandeira because of the 1930 poem Pneumotórax*, which is referenced in the novel, as a main theme in Pureza is consumption. The poet used to suffer from tuberculosis. Lourenço de Melo, the protagonist in Pureza suffered from phthisis or consumption. He lived under the cloud of the impression that he could have inherited it from his forebears.

*See a translation at https://allpoetry.com/Pneumotrax---(Pneumothorax)#tr_8544505

Pneumothorax is defined as collapsed lung, which occurs when air gets into the space

between the outside of the lung and the inside of the chest wall, the ribcage. A small pneumothorax may cause few or no symptoms. A large pneumothorax can squash the lung and cause it to collapse (adapted from the British Lung Foundation).

Pneumotórax Febre, hemoptise, dispnéia e suores noturnos. A vida inteira que podia ter sido e que não foi. Tosse, tosse, tosse. Mandou chamar o médico: – Diga trinta e três. – Trinta e três… trinta e três… trinta e três… – Respire. ………………………………………………………… – O senhor tem uma escavação no pulmão esquerdo e o pulmão direito infiltrado. – Então, doutor, não é possível tentar o pneumotórax? – Não. A única coisa a fazer é tocar um tango argentino. …

In Libertinagem (1930)





https://allpoetry.com/Pneumotrax---(Pneumothorax)#tr_8544505





@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e5

Manuel Bandeira’s poem ironically highlights the predicament which sufferers of the disease endured. Tuberculosis often reached endemic proportions and many thousands of people died because of the disease. The poem cleverly references the lack of treatments for tuberculosis, an abundance of initiatives, and has a sardonic twist at the end.

The novel references ‘tísica’ (phthisis, consumption) and its effects on the quality of life.

The word ‘tísica’ is used in the original and in the early editions of the novel. Later updated editions replaced it by ‘tuberculose’ (tuberculosis). Consumption, or tuberculosis, a serious bacterial disease which attacks the lungs is a very ancient disease and killed many populations in various parts of the world. It is also known as the white plague. Search for cures for tuberculosis date back millennia. Towards the nineteenth century tuberculosis was associated with art and literature. A belief prevailed that it promoted poetic and artistic talents because its symptoms allegedly heightened the perceptions of the sufferer. It also became a motif or metaphor linked to love, tragic love, thus, the ‘romantic disease’.

http://www.ccs.saude.gov.br/peste-branca/tb-brasil.php

Manuel Bandeira was probably reacting to the launch of new treatments and new technologies such as ‘abreugrafia’ (x-ray imaging), launched by the physician, scientist, and inventor Dr. Manuel Dias de Abreu (1891-1962) in Brazil. José Lins do Rego was acutely aware of the medical developments. Since 1900, Brazil saw the creation of groups and a league fighting against tuberculosis with significant public health initiatives. The poster above is one of many which circulated in Brazil. ‘Tísica’, phthisis, or consumption, features in Pureza. José Lins do










@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e6

Rego certainly chose the word to convey fictional and artistic notions associated with the term as so many other writers and artists have done before him.

The title of the novel Pureza refers to name of the station which served the hamlet Pureza, which belonged to the Usina Cruangi (Cruangi sugar mill) in the northern forested area (Atlantic Forest) in the town of Timbaúba. The line began to operate in1883 and Pureza was the final stop before the Timbaúba station was opened in 1888. The transportation of goods from the sugar mills as well as timber, cotton and other many other agricultural and industrial goods was done by rail.

Various types of agriculture in Pernambuco in addition to sugar cane

The author plays on the meaning of the name of the station (purity), which itself is a reference to the pure waters murmuring in the nearby brook. As the plot develops, a gradual metaphorical purification or cleansing of mind and soul of the protagonist becomes salient.

Location of Pureza/ Timbaúba in the State of Pernambuco Pureza Station – Great Western of Brazil Railway

The old railway station is a reasonable state of repair and was used as a residence. Noteworthy is the sheer size of its yard which extends to the sliding, serving the sugar mill. It is an evidence of the size of the freight cars which were maneuvered there as well as the volume of goods transported. Pureza had strategic importance for many decades. The Usina Cruangi in









@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e7

Pernambuco may be the only sugar mill using the railway to transport demerara sugar, ethanol, molasses and more in specially adapted railway cars. An old steam locomotive remains in the Pureza yard.

The novel refers to the golden age of the Great Western of Brazil Railway operated from

1883 to 1950, which was bought out by Rede Ferroviária do Nordeste, and in 1975 became part of the Federal Railway System (RFFSA). A history of the railways, including Pureza, in Portuguese is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGq2Fc9bywc

1902 Map of Provincial Railoads of Brazil by the Imperial Instituto Artístico (Rio De Janeiro, Brazil)

In writing his novels, José Lins do Rego sought to retrieve memories from his childhood and recorded bits of his own life in them. His stories are imbued with a huge love of life, at times melancholy, some sensuality, occasionally even eroticism, and offer deep psychological insights





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGq2Fc9bywc





@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e8

into how our early childhood experiences come to shape our future lives as well as our social and mental well-being. A demise of local ‘aristocracy’ and patriarchy was under way in the context of the time in which the novel is set. In including his memoirs, the author recorded invaluable local history with a subtle social critique in his fiction. The author belonged to a group of north-eastern intellectuals, who actively debated events in other parts of Brazil. One of his life-long acquaintances and friends was Gilberto Freyre KBE (1900-1987).

Gilberto Freyre’s influential 1948 social history Ingleses no Brasil . Aspectos da Influência

Britânica sobre a Vida, a Paisagem e a Cultura do Brasil refers to J. Lins do Rego and other authors, who portrayed histories of the British railways in Brazil. It has been a key and invaluable source for historians almost anywhere since its publication, be it in acknowledged format or not.

The original edition includes numerous illustrative plates with copies from original primary sources in Brazil, offering an additional dimension to the records of the activities of the British in Brazil. A folded handmade map illustrates types of occupations and cities where the British developed their professional activities. Many of those who came as entrepreneurs or in other capacities ended up settling in Brazil, at times marrying locally, and established their professional lives in many corners of Brazil. It also records details of the hardships that some of those Britons faced as their masters in Britain neglected them leaving them to their own resources in their businesses. Ingleses no Brasil may also serve as an invaluable source for any British descendants either in Brazil or elsewhere seeking their roots. The translation into English is from the third edition: The English in Brazil. Aspects of British Influence on the life, landscape and culture of Brazil translated by Christopher J. Tribe published in 2011 (Oxford: Boulevard).

Gilberto Freyre’s writing style is dense, illustrated with a bounty of examples and sources,

and it is underpinned by a set of theoretical ideas, which he developed from those in circulation









@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e9

in the first half of the 20th century mainly but also some nineteenth century ideas. Some passages may be a bit more challenging perhaps for a non-specialist. It is, however, a treasure trove for intellectual historians. Equally his writing has instances of great literary acumen.

Gilberto Freyre also speaks of the influence of the English/British novelists and authors

in Brazil, many of whom have been translated since nineteenth century into Portuguese and have captivated the imagination of generations of readers. Illustrating this, he states it was

‘an influence, which brings us surprise, as they are manifest even in those novelists who are strongly attached to their land or province, as is J. Lins do Rego [NK]’ (1948:32).

Giberto Freyre and José Lins do Rego became friends when G. Freyre returned from his studies in the U.S.A. They remained life-long friends engaging in a variety of intellectual pursuits including a series of debates on the Brazilian Modernist movements.

Many of the original sources on the history of the Great Western of Brazil can be found in Ingleses no Brasil. Of great interest is the fact that he refers to the work of Estevão Pinto (1895-1968), a historian of the Brazilian northeast, an invaluable primary source. At the time of writing Estevão Pinto shared the unpublished manuscript with Gilberto Freyre, subsequently published in 1949:

História de uma estrada de ferro do nordeste: (contribuição para o estudo da formação e desenvolvimento da empresa The Great Western of Brazil Railway Company Limited e das suas relações com a economia do nordeste brasileiro ) [History of a north-eastern railway; (contribution to the study of the creation and development of The Great Western of Brazil Railway Company Limited and its relations with the economy of the Brazilian north-east (NK)]









@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e10

Estevão Pinto has produced a comprehensive set of history books, including industrial, economic, and anthropological histories and articles about the northeast of Brazil, which remain an invaluable source.

It is worth noting that Martin Cooper in his Brazilian Railway Culture published in 2011

(Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing), a rather expensive hardback, fails to include either the novel Pureza, José Lins do Rego, or Estevão Pinto’s essential book in his publication despite mentioning Gilberto Freyre’s Ingleses no Brasil. Aspectos da Influência Britânica sobre a Vida, a Paisagem e a Cultura do Brazil.

From left to right: José Lins do Rego, Gilberto Freyre, Cândido Portinari, J. Olympio and Manuel Bandeira.

In Pureza, José Lins do Rego refers to Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) and particularly to his Jude the Obscure (last novel, published as a serial in1894, and in book format 1895). A most fascinating reference in the north-east of Brazil. Perhaps, not by chance, the author may have heard about Thomas Hardy from Gilberto Freyre. However, the author had a large library of five thousand books. A closer analysis would offer evidence that Lins do Rego read Thomas Hardy. Lins do Rego would most certainly identify with Thomas Hardy’s portrayal of the challenges of the Victorian society in England. And one could venture the thought that the women characters are reminiscent of Thomas Hardy in J. Lins do Rego.

There are other links which are relevant to the intellectual history of Britain and Brazil.

Gilberto Freyre refers to the English engineer Thomas Plantagenet Bigg-Wither (1845-1890), author of Pioneering in South Brazil published by John Murray in London in 1878. The book resulted from a series of lectures at the Royal Geographical Society offering a detailed portrait of the State of Paraná, which was read by Thomas Hardy.









@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e11

Covert references to the content of Bigg-Wither’s book appear in Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented (1891): Hardy sends his hero to Curitiba and includes comments on some of the hardships faced by British farmers and others elsewhere in Paraná. Covert references to the content of Bigg-Wither’s book appear in Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Thomas Hardy never visited Brazil.

Thomas Plantagenet Bigg-Wither (1845-1890) was the 10th son of Lovelace Bigg-Wither. In the state of Paraná, he also played a role in creating the Paraná land registry and he spent three years exploring the whole state of Paraná. His Pioneering in south Brazil. Three years of forest and prairie life in the province of Paraná was translated into Portuguese as ‘Novo Caminho no Brasil Meridional’: A Província do Paraná (1974) by Temístocles Linhares (1905-1993) and published by Livraria José Olympio Editora. It is illustrated and contains a map. The original is available at https://archive.org/details/pioneeringinsout021878bigg.

As I have commented and written elsewhere, Bigg-Wither’s great-great-great grandson was a student of mine at the British Institute (Cultura Inglesa) in Curitiba and shared the story





https://archive.org/details/pioneeringinsout021878bigg





@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e12

of his forebear as we discussed Tess of the d'Urbervilles, a set book for Cambridge English Foreign Language exams in 1980s. There is no doubt that this represents a fascinating migration and circulation of ideas. The link between Thomas Hardy and Thomas P. Bigg-Wither is relevant for both Brazilians and British. On his return to England, Thomas P. Bigg-Whither wrote The valleys of the Tibagy & Ivahy, Province of the Paraná, South Brazil (1876) published with the help by the Royal Geographical Society.

Ten years after the publication of Pureza, which was an instant success in Brazil, a

translation into English by Lucie Marion was published in the First Novel Series (number 3) of the Hutchinson International Authors Limited in London in 1948. There is no foreword or detail about either the author or the translator Lucie Marion.

The British Library lists another two books by a Lucie Marion (1948) Be your own chef: simple French cookery and (1952), The Home Chef published by G. Duckworth. One could even speculate it is the same person. However, no detail could be found about the translator, who mercifully produced a good translation. She uses the now politically incorrect word for a black person.

The translator used the names of Brazilian trees in the original (without annotating) and

curiously, she mistranslated or misspelled the translation of ‘cigarra’. Her translation used the word ‘consumption’ for what originally was ‘tísica’. Further research, perhaps in the publisher’s archives, may unveil who Lucie Marion was, or whether this was a pen name, after all.

Pureza was adapted for the cinema quite early in1940. It was directed by the Portuguese

filmmaker Eduardo Chianca de Garcia (1893-1983) who settled in Brazil and produced by the Brazilian screenwriter and journalist Adhemar Gonzaga (1901-1978). José Lins do Rego contributed to film script and dialogues. It had a time-honoured cast: Procópio Ferreira, Sara Nobre, Conchita de Moraes, Sônia Oiticica, Nilza Magrassi, Sérgio Serrano, Roberto Acácio, Sadi









@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e13

Cabral, Manoel Rocha, Mendonça Balsemão, Alfredo Calado, Reginaldo Calmon, Zaira Cavalcanti, Dorival Caymmi, Elias Celeste, Carlos Deca, Bandeira de Melo, Pedro Dias, Artur Leitão, Roberto Lupo, Zizinha Macedo, Janir Martins, Jaime Pedro Silva, J. Silveira and Júlia Vidal. The Cinemateca link contains further details: http://bases.cinemateca.gov.br/cgi-bin/wxis.exe/iah/?IsisScript=iah/iah.xis&base=FILMOGRAFIA&lang=p&nextAction=lnk&exprSearch=ID=005514&format=detailed.pft

The soundtrack is most impressive featuring by Dorival Caymmi (1914-2008) and

Francisco Scarambone, and the notable composer and conductor Radamés Gnattali (1906-1988). However, there is a significant difference between the novel and the film.

Procópio Ferreira - the protagonist 'Pureza' by Chianca de Garcia (1940) - (photo: Acervo BCC/CB)

http://citizengrave.blogspot.com/2012/12/vida-paixao-e-arte-de-chianca-de-garcia.html

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

JOSÉ LINS DO REGO

(3rd June 1901- 12th September 1957)





http://bases.cinemateca.gov.br/cgi-bin/wxis.exe/iah/?IsisScript=iah/iah.xis&base=FILMOGRAFIA&lang=p&nextAction=lnk&exprSearch=ID=005514&format=detailed.pft



http://citizengrave.blogspot.com/2012/12/vida-paixao-e-arte-de-chianca-de-garcia.html





@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e14

1939 Portrait of José Lins do Rego by Cândido Portinari (1903-62)

José Lins do Rego (José Lins do Rego Cavalcanti) was born in Engenho Corredor, in the town of Pilar in the state of Paraíba on 3rd June1901 and died in the city of Rio de Janeiro in the state of Rio de Janeiro on12th September 1957.

The

Engenho do Corredor, Pilar- Paraíba. Birthplace of José Lins do Rego.









@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e15

Son of João do Rego Cavalcanti, owner of a famous sugar mill, Engenho Tapuá, in the municipality of São Miguel de Taipu, Paraíba, and Amélia Lins Cavalcanti. His mother was killed by his father in a fit of schizophrenia, and then young son was moved to his grandfather’s sugar mill and brought up by him.

José Lins do Rego (age 15/16) Photo Collection of the Museu José Lins do Rego/Funesc

His grandfather was the prominent Colonel Bubu do Corredor, José Lins Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, owner of eight sugar mills. Young Lins do Rego remained in Corredor until the age of 12. He started his education at the boarding school Colégio de Itabaiana in Paraíba, then, continued at the Instituto Nossa Senhora do Carmo and at Colégio Diocesano Pio X in João Pessoa, capital of the state. Following that, he studied at the Colégio Carneiro Leão and Osvaldo Cruz in Recife, the capital of the state of Pernambuco. In 1920, he started his law degree at the University in Recife.

The author had inherited much from his forebears who were linked to the Brazilian northeast, from a long line of people engaged in the sugar cane plantations, mills, and industry, of senzalas and black slaves, who shaped that part of Brazil from the first sugar plantations established by the early Portuguese settlers and Jesuits. In his childhood in the countryside, he witnessed the decline of the traditional sugar mills replaced by industries effecting great socio-economic changes, which greatly concerned him.

At high school, he showed his precocious literary talents. Various literary influences

would bring inspiration to him: in 1916, as a boarder, he discovered O Ateneu (1888) by Raul Pompéia (1863-1895). O Ateneu is a repository of most interesting ideas on education and world culture. In 1918, at the age of 17, he discovered Machado de Assis (1839-1908) through his novel Dom Casmurro (1899). He often reiterated how much Machado de Assis was a major influence on him. Society and ethics were very much a key concern for Machado de Assis and José Lins do Rego would emulate him.









@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e16

Whilst reading law, he started writing for the Jornal do Recife, which launched in the nineteenth century and continued into the twentieth, with notable intellectuals contributing to it, for instance Tobias Barreto (1839-1889), Barbosa Lima Sobrinho (1897-2000), Assis Chateaubriand (1892-1968), to mention but a few. He made acquaintance with Gilberto Freyre, who influenced him and became a life-long friend.

In1922, José Lins do Rego founded a weekly entitled Dom Casmurro with Osório Borba

(1900-1960). He made various literary friends there: José Américo de Almeida (1887-1980), Osório Borba, Luís Maria de Souza Delgado (1906-1974). In1923, José Lins do Rego was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Law.

In 1924, he married his cousin Philomena (Naná) Massa Lins do Rego, daughter of the

Old Republic Senator Antônio Massa (1864-1958). They had three daughters. In 1925, he started working a public prosecutor in Manhuaçu in the state of Minas Gerais, but soon he resigned moving to Maceió, the capital of Alagoas, in 1926 working as a bank inspector until1930, and consumer goods inspector from 1931 to 1935.

There he began to write for the Jornal de Alagoas and joined a group of authors and

intellectuals, for example, Graciliano Ramos (1892-1953), author of Vidas Secas (1938), Rachel de Queiroz (1910-2003), author of Três Marias (1939), the great lexicographer Aurélio Buarque de Holanda (1910-1989), and his famous Aurélio dictionaries which we all use, the poet Jorge de Lima (1893-1953), the notable journalist Valdemar Cavalcanti, Aloísio Branco, Carlos Paurílio.

He published his first book Menino de engenho in Maceió in 1932, a key modern

Brazilian novel. The novel was awarded the Graça Aranha Foundation Prize. In the following year, he published Doidinho. His literary career was successfully launched. He moved to the federal capital of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, in 1935, continuing to publish successfully. He was awarded another two literary prizes, the Felipe d’Oliveira Prize for his novel Água-mãe (1941), and the Fábio Prado for Eurídice (1947).

José Lins do Rego in his regalia with Manuel Bandeira at the Brazilian Academy of Letters









@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e17

In 1955, he became the patron of chair number 25 of the Brazilian Academy of Letters on15th December 1956, formally welcomed by the academician Austregésilo de Athayde (1898-1993). His address to the Academy needs to be (re)read as it mirrors many of his ideas, motivations and principles which guided his writings. It continues to have a great freshness.

His innovative and experimental approach to collaborative novel writing is further

corroborated by the novel Brandão entre o mar e o amor (1942) written in collaboration with Jorge Amado, Graciliano Ramos, Aníbal Machado and Rachel de Queiroz. José Lins do Rego, wrote the second chapter ‘O mistério de Brandão (Glória)’ for this novel.

José Lins do Rego was also mad about football and served in various capacities at Clube de

Regatas Flamengo, and the Brazilian Sport Confederation (extinguished in 1978 and replaced by CBF).

There is a cartoon adaptation of his Menino de Engenho, de Jose Lins do Rego. [Direção de Adolfo Aizen; Desenhos de André Le Blanc]. (Edição Maravilhosa). In addition to the film based on Pureza, other novels were made into films: Menino de engenho (1965), by Glauber Rocha and Walter Lima Júnior, directed by Walter Lima Júnior and Fogo morto by Miguel Borges directed by Marcos Faria. There are various documentaries about José Lins do Rego in Portuguese:

➢ The José Lins do Rego Museum, in João Pessoa, Paraíba (2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-SF5jS9BIQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdF-vaC6QJ4

➢ José Lins do Rego produced by José Olympio Editora directed by Walter Lima Júnior & awarded the National Cinema Institute Prize (shorts) in 1969.

➢ José Lins do Rego (short). Produced by José Lins do Rego: Engenho e Arte (documentary) by TV Escola, directed by Hilton Lacerda. http://tvescola.mec.gov.br/tve/video/mestres-da-literatura-jose-lins-do-rego-engenho-e-arte

➢ O Engenho de Zé Lins (documentary, 2006). Produced and directed by Vladimir Carvalho. Awareded prize at Festival de Brasília 2006. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NftT5Mb10jk

The Brazilian Academy of Letters held a centenary exhibition in 2001 - Mostra do centenário de José Lins do Rego, organised by Stela Kaz, in Rio de Janeiro.

Translations of some of his works have been published in English, German, Korean, Spanish,

French, Italian, Romanian, Russian and Swedish.

A museum dedicated to the author, the Museu José Lins do Rego (FUNESC) was founded in in João Pessoa, Paraíba in 1985, a large site. The Museum holds five thousand books of the library and many other items of the author. The widow of José Lins do Rego donated the whole collection of books, manuscripts, and other objects to the museums. Their website states that they have digitised his materials. It is situated at Rua Abdias Gomes de Almeida, number 800.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-SF5jS9BIQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdF-vaC6QJ4

http://tvescola.mec.gov.br/tve/video/mestres-da-literatura-jose-lins-do-rego-engenho-e-arte

http://tvescola.mec.gov.br/tve/video/mestres-da-literatura-jose-lins-do-rego-engenho-e-arte

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NftT5Mb10jk





@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e18

http://museus.cultura.gov.br/espaco/7137/ and see 2020 video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-SF5jS9BIQ

Maria Christina Lins do Rego, one of his daughters, is also a writer, an article about her father on the occasion of her book launch in 2014 is available at http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/bairros/filha-de-jose-lins-do-rego-lanca-livro-de-contos-de-ficcao-aos-81-anos-14818362#ixzz4fMn86h00





http://museus.cultura.gov.br/espaco/7137/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-SF5jS9BIQ

http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/bairros/filha-de-jose-lins-do-rego-lanca-livro-de-contos-de-ficcao-aos-81-anos-14818362#ixzz4fMn86h00

http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/bairros/filha-de-jose-lins-do-rego-lanca-livro-de-contos-de-ficcao-aos-81-anos-14818362#ixzz4fMn86h00





@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e19

The state of Paraíba is celebrating the 120th birth anniversary of José Lins do Rego with a year of cultural events in 2021.

Main works: Menino de engenho* (1932), Doidinho* (1933), Bangüê* (1934), O Moleque Ricardo (1935), Usina (1936), Pureza* (1937), Pedra bonita (1938), Riacho doce (1939), Água-mãe (1941), Fogo morto (1943), Gordos e Magros. Artigos. (1943), Eurídice (1947), Bota de Sete Léguas. (1952), Cangaceiros (1953), Estórias da Velha Totonia (1936), Meus Verdes Anos (1956), Gregos e Troianos (1957) *Translated in English

Further details can be found at:

➢ The Brazilian Bilingual Book Club discussed Menino de engenho (1932) translated into English as Plantation Boy (1966) in July 2018.









@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e20


➢

➢ http://enciclopedia.itaucultural.org.br/pessoa5630/jose-lins-do-rego

➢ OLIVEIRA, Iranilson Buriti de – O autor e a autoria: José Lins do Rego em cena.

➢ History of the railways in Brazil http://www.estacoesferroviarias.com.br/efcp_pe/pureza_historico.htm

➢ Guia Geral das Estradas de Ferro do Brasil , 1960; Enciclopédia dos Municípios Brasileiros , IBGE, volume IV, 1958; Guias Levi, 1932-1982; Marco Benfont, 2007; Mapas: acervo R. M. Giesbrecht; Sydney Correa, 2009

➢ The Great Western of Brazil Railway by William Edmundson (2016)

➢ About the history of Paraiba – historical records digitised by the British Library-128 files (archives) https://eap.bl.uk/collection/EAP627-3 This collection unites handwritten documents in the Portuguese language that are bound together as books. The documents were produced in the Colonial and Imperial periods within modernday Paraíba, Brazil. The collection inludes land grants (sesmarias - 1704-1824); land records (1854-1865); administrative acts of the Portuguese Crown and of some Brazilian Imperial agencies, like the Secretary of State of Financial Affairs (Secretaria de Estado dos Negócios da Fazenda) and the Secretary of State of War Affairs and Supreme Military Council (Secretaria de Estado dos Negócios da Guerra e Conselho Supremo Militar) (1797-1856); acts of the Paraiba government (1823-1889); Grant letters (Cartas Patentes - 1776-1865); Municipal Government and Chief of Police (1837-1871); Public Instruction (1852-1888); City Hall and Provincial Legislature (1829-1853); Provincial Treasury (1837-1875); Revenue Administration (1841-1869); Magistrates (1877-1886). Documentation produced by the Paraíba Government, between 1701 and 1889. The collection belonged to the Public State Archive (Arquivo Público do Estado), later called Paraíba Historical Archive (Arquivo Histórico da Paraíba), which held all documentation produced and collected by several sectors of the public administration. In present day, the archive is called Waldemar Bispo Duarte Historical Archive (Arquivo Histórico Waldemar Bispo Duarte). It is a cultural institution integrated to the José Lins do Rego Cultural Foundation of Paraíba (Fundação Espaço Cultural da Paraíba José Lins do Rego – FUNESC) through Decree Number 12.924 of January 3, 1898 (Decreto nº 12.924 de 03 de janeiro de 1989).

➢ About Tuberculosis in Brazil http://www.ccs.saude.gov.br/peste-branca/tb-brasil.php








http://enciclopedia.itaucultural.org.br/pessoa5630/jose-lins-do-rego

http://www.estacoesferroviarias.com.br/efcp_pe/pureza_historico.htm

https://eap.bl.uk/collection/EAP627-3






@BrazilEmbassyUK

Pag

e21

NB. there are numerous articles and books written about a multiplicity of aspects of the oeuvre by José Lins do Rego both in Portuguese and in other languages. However, there is no better starting point than the original text.

HAPPY READING!

2021: #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

READING LIST SECOND HALF 2021 https://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/Londres/en-us/file/BOOKCLUB%20-%20YEAR%20SEVEN%20-%20READING%20LIST%20SECOND%20HALF%20of%202021%20-%20N_K.pdf

Attendance is free, but booking is essential: [email protected] ©Nadia Kerecuk

Creator and Convenor of the ©Virtual Brazilian Bilingual Book Club at the Embassy of Brazil in London





https://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/Londres/en-us/file/BOOKCLUB%20-%20YEAR%20SEVEN%20-%20READING%20LIST%20SECOND%20HALF%20of%202021%20-%20N_K.pdf

https://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/Londres/en-us/file/BOOKCLUB%20-%20YEAR%20SEVEN%20-%20READING%20LIST%20SECOND%20HALF%20of%202021%20-%20N_K.pdf

mailto:[email protected]




brazilian bilingual book club| josÉ lins do rego | …

Documents