{"id":472008,"date":"2023-03-27T15:51:38","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T18:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=472008"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:51:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T18:51:38","slug":"erotica-in-the-work-of-mario-de-andrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/erotica-in-the-work-of-mario-de-andrade\/","title":{"rendered":"Erotica in the work of M\u00e1rio de Andrade"},"content":{"rendered":"

The excerpt to the left is from the short story \u201cFrederico Paci\u00eancia,\u201d written over the course of almost two decades by the modernist author M\u00e1rio de Andrade (1893\u20131945) and first published in the book Contos novos<\/em> (\u201cNew stories\u201d; Livraria Martins Editora, 1947). Narrated in first person, it tells the story of the friendship between two teenagers of the same sex. \u201cIt is a homoerotic tale recognized as at least partially autobiographical. Juca, the narrator, sees himself as weak and ugly but has great admiration for the ‘scandalous solarity’ of his friend Frederico,\u201d says Eliane Robert Moraes, a professor of Brazilian literature from the Department of Classical and Vernacular Literature at the School of Philosophy, Languages and Literature, and Human Sciences at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (FFLCH-USP).<\/p>\n

He lay down, exaggerating his fatigue, taking pleasure in obeying. I sat on the edge of the bed, as if to take care of him, and looked at my friend. His face was lit by the afternoon sunlight shining through the window. He was so beautiful, I looked at him with great reverence. He moved slowly, like a boy, reaffirming his intent. [\u2026] His red lips parting slowly, his speech deliberately weary. I stared at him. Frederico Paci\u00eancia noticed and suddenly stopped talking to stare back at me. I realized he had fallen silent and I knew why, but I was unable to react, unable to take my eyes off his beautiful mouth. When our eyes finally met, I was almost scared because Frederico Paci\u00eancia was looking at me the same way I was looking at him, with longing eyes that completely betrayed his feelings.<\/div>\n

\u201cFrederico Paci\u00eancia\u201d is one of the stories chosen by Moraes for the compilation O corpo desvelado \u2013 Contos er\u00f3ticos brasileiros (1922-2022) <\/em>(The body revealed: Brazilian erotic stories), recently published by CEPE. The collection comprises 60 Brazilian authors from the last 100 years who at some point ventured into literary erotica. The story is also included in Seleta er\u00f3tica\/Mario de Andrade <\/em>(Erotic selection), another compilation organized by Moraes and released this year by Ubu. The book is divided into eight sections and results from research carried out by the erotic literature specialist during a sabbatical at USP\u2019s Institute of Advanced Studies (IEA) in 2021.<\/p>\n

It covers poems, correspondence, excerpts from canonical works such as O turista aprendiz<\/em> (The apprentice tourist)\u2014completed in 1943 but only published in 1976\u2014and unfinished texts such as the novel Caf\u00e9 <\/em>(Coffee), published by Nova Fronteira in 2015. It also includes works the modernist collected during research into popular culture, such as the song Corujinha, from the book As melodias do boi e outras pe\u00e7as <\/em>(Cattle melodies and other tunes; Itatiaia, 2006). \u201cAlongside names like Hilda Hilst [1930\u20132004], M\u00e1rio is one of the Brazilian authors who was most interested in sex, but this aspect of his work is still surrounded by taboo and has rarely been studied,\u201d says Moraes.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the reasons this aspect has remained unexamined is that critics found it difficult to deal with his homosexuality, which was hidden until 2015,\u201d explains Andr\u00e9 Botelho, a sociologist from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) who studies the Macuna\u00edma <\/em>author. That was the year that the Casa de Rui Barbosa Foundation shared a previously unpublished letter from the modernist to the poet Manuel Bandeira (1886\u20131968) in which the author himself made direct references to his homosexuality. M\u00e1rio de Andrade addressed the topic with great caution: in \u201cFrederico Paci\u00eancia,\u201d for example, he uses ambiguous expressions such as \u201cclose friends,\u201d \u201ccurious desires,\u201d and \u201csurprising instincts\u201d to describe the relationship between the two characters. This level of care was not limited to homoerotic aspects. In Seleta er\u00f3tica<\/em>, Moraes chose an excerpt from the first edition of Macuna\u00edma<\/em> (1928) that was later censored by the author himself, in which the writer describes sexual positions invented by the protagonist and his partner, Ci. \u201cBecause of this passage, the book Macuna\u00edma<\/em> was deemed indecent and was forbidden to read for some time,\u201d says the expert.<\/p>\n

\"\"

M\u00e1rio de Andrade, 1932 \/ Photo by Gilda de Moraes Rocha<\/span>The literary journal Dom Casmurro<\/em> frequently labeled M\u00e1rio a \u2018sub-Wilde half-breed\u2019M\u00e1rio de Andrade, 1932 \/ Photo by Gilda de Moraes Rocha<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cM\u00e1rio rubbed shoulders with the conservative elite and faced prejudice not only because of the suspicions surrounding his sexuality, but also because he was mulatto\u2014to use terms of the time\u2014and less wealthy than his modernist colleagues, such as Oswald de Andrade [1890\u20131954],\u201d points out Botelho. The scholar believes the author was subject to a kind of cleansing from the 1940s onward by critics who covered up themes such as homosexuality. \u201cHis ambiguities and contradictions were erased so that he could be monumentalized as an official symbol of Brazilian cultural modernity,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

According to Botelho, the field of sexuality and eroticism is an inviting field of study that can shed light on other aspects of M\u00e1rio de Andrade\u2019s work. \u201cThe erotic issue is the foundation of his thought process, it is essential to understanding his work as a whole,\u201d claims the sociologist, who together with Maur\u00edcio Hoelz wrote Modernismo como movimento cultural: M\u00e1rio de Andrade, um aprendizado <\/em>(Modernism as a cultural movement: M\u00e1rio de Andrade, an apprenticeship) recently published by Vozes. \u201cThrough eroticism, we can see new angles in M\u00e1rio\u2019s relationships with recurring elements in his work, such as music and dance.\u201d<\/p>\n

S\u00e3o Paulo\u2013based researcher C\u00e9sar Braga-Pinto reviewed the literature on M\u00e1rio de Andrade, especially regarding his poetry, by names such as Roger Bastide (1898\u20131974), Antonio Candido (1918\u20132017), and Jo\u00e3o Luiz Lafet\u00e1 (1946\u20131996) in a chapter of his book Modernismos 1922-2022 <\/em>(Modernisms 1922\u20132022), released by Companhia das Letras this year, writing: \u201cIn general, criticism has approached the ‘x’ of sexuality in\/of Andrade\u2019s work from a homophobic standpoint, sometimes with caution, sometimes with embarrassment, sometimes with dissimulation and frequently through gestures of disqualification or obliteration [ …] emptying<\/em> and distortion<\/em> are two of the main critical movements in response to M\u00e1rio’s ‘secret.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with Pesquisa<\/em> FAPESP<\/em>, Braga-Pinto, who is a professor of Brazilian and comparative literature at Northwestern University, USA, explained his reasons for referring to structural homophobia in the book. \u201cI am not calling the critics homophobic. I am drawing attention to the fact that homophobia is ingrained in Brazilian society, which leads to homosexuality being seen\u2014in varying degrees\u2014as an illness, a moral deviation, or an issue to be avoided,\u201d he says. \u201cM\u00e1rio de Andrade\u2019s life and work inevitably overlap in the critical reception. The fact that critics avoided the topic of sexuality certainly hindered the analysis of his work, but the recent obsession with bringing him out of the closet is also problematic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The researcher helped compile the two volumes of Dissid\u00eancias de g\u00eanero e sexualidade na literatura brasileira<\/em> (Dissenting gender and sexuality in Brazilian literature), published by Devires last year, including work by various authors from between 1842 and 1930. It features two texts by M\u00e1rio de Andrade. One is the story \u201cNizia Figueira, sua criada,\u201d in which, according to Braga-Pinto, the affection between two women borders on erotic. The other is the poem \u201cCabo Machado\u201d (1926), in which the modernist says:<\/p>\n

Cabo Machado is a very handsome young man.\/ It\u2019s as if the dawn were walking in front of me.\/ His crimson mouth opens in a perpetual smile\/ And the golden sun lights up his teeth\/ Sealed with an oriental luxury.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One method Braga-Pinto likes to use to reflect on the relationship between sexuality and M\u00e1rio de Andrade\u2019s work is to think of the author outside the modernist context. \u201cIt is interesting to observe how he compares to other homosexual writers who were his contemporaries, such as Oscar Wilde [1854\u20131900] and his translator, Jo\u00e3o do Rio [1881\u20131921], from Rio de Janeiro,\u201d he states, adding: \u201cIn the 1930s, the literary journal Dom Casmurro<\/em> frequently labeled M\u00e1rio a ‘sub-Wilde half-breed.’ In one homophobic attack, Oswald [de Andrade] said that M\u00e1rio was very much ‘like Oscar Wilde from behind.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The rupture between M\u00e1rio de Andrade and Oswald de Andrade, it should be said, was caused by homophobic texts published in Revista de Antropofagia<\/em> in 1929, according to James Green, a historian at Brown University, USA, in the book Al\u00e9m do Carnaval: A homossexualidade masculina no Brasil do s\u00e9culo XX <\/em>(Beyond Carnival: Male homosexuality in twentieth century Brazil; Editora UNESP, 2000). In a periodical edited by Oswald de Andrade and Oswaldo Costa, M\u00e1rio was called \u201cMiss S\u00e3o Paulo,\u201d \u201cMiss Macuna\u00edma,\u201d and \u201cDona Maria.\u201d In his correspondence, M\u00e1rio wrote that the attitude of his \u201cformer friend\u201d hurt. In a 1929 letter to painter Tarsila do Amaral (1886\u20131973), who was married to Oswald at the time, he wrote: \u201cI assure you […] that the accusations, insults, and mockery do not interest me in the slightest. I’ve suffered them all many times and it has never affected me […]. But I cannot ignore that it was all written with the assistance of someone I considered a friend. That is what I find so cruel, Tarsila, and despite my enormous pride, I do not currently have the strength to deny that I am devastated by the experience. I know we were all victims of a storm that passed. But it passed. A large tree fell to the ground and no other tree can grow in its place. It’s impossible.”<\/p>\n

An accent of his own
\n<\/strong>Compilation of M\u00e1rio de Andrade\u2019s reflections on the written and spoken word in Brazil<\/p>\n

\u201cFiori de la P\u00e1\/ Geni transf\u00e9rdi g\u00fcide n\u00f4s pig\u00f3rdi\/ Geni tr\u00e2ns! Felig\u00fcin\u00f3rdi\/ Geny!…\u201d M\u00e1rio de Andrade\u2019s first poem, penned when he was just a teenager, was written in a language he himself invented. \u201cThe sexual content is hidden within a murky and barely intelligible textual fabric,\u201d while the male and female genders are muddled, says Moraes in Seleta er\u00f3tica<\/em>. M\u00e1rio himself wrote: \u201cIn ‘Geni tr\u00e2ns!…’ I was possessed by an inconceivable ecstasy. I raised my voice, paused, and suffered.\u201d This quote is from A gramatiquinha da fala brasileira <\/em>(The grammar of Brazilian speech), a book recently released by the Alexandre de Gusm\u00e3o Foundation (FUNAG) and the Guimar\u00e3es Rosa Institute, both linked to Brazil\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.<\/p>\n

The book is based on a manuscript by the author archived at the Brazilian Studies Institute (IEB-USP). \u201cIt is not grammar in the academic sense of the term,\u201d points out Aline Novais de Almeida, who coordinated the project. \u201cIt is an unfinished study on written and spoken Portuguese in Brazil. For M\u00e1rio, the so-called grammatical ‘errors’ in relation to European Portuguese reflect the way Brazilians express themselves and should have been integrated into the grammar of Brazilian speech, including as a means of liberation from the country\u2019s colonizers. But his original idea of developing a grammar did not advance and he instead moved towards a more essay-like format, although there are other texts that retain this unfinished aspect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Almeida studied the manuscript during her master’s degree at FFLCH-USP. In addition to sketches, the material includes documents such as tickets, letters, newspaper clippings, and even an advertisement for a cabaret in S\u00e3o Paulo. The research was part of a project funded by FAPESP and led by Tel\u00ea Ancona Lopez. According to Almeida, the first academic study on the manuscript was carried out 40 years ago in a thesis by Edith Pimentel Pinto (1924\u20131992) of FFLCH-USP\u2019s Department of Philology and the Portuguese Language, which was later used as the basis for the book A gramatiquinha de M\u00e1rio de Andrade: Texto e contexto <\/em>(The grammar of Mario de Andrade: Text and context; Livraria Duas Cidades\/S\u00e3o Paulo State Culture Department, 1990). \u201cIt is a pioneering work in which Pinto attempts to organize these archived documents and cover the gaps left by the author,\u201d Almeida says.<\/p>\n

In the newly released version, she takes a different approach. \u201cIn my opinion, this is a fragmented work. M\u00e1rio gathered and consulted this material throughout his life and drew many ideas from it, as can be seen in the article \u2018O baile dos pronomes,\u2019 published in O Estado de S. Paulo <\/em>in 1941.\u201d The researcher chose to use just some of the documents that comprise the manuscript, preferring the \u201cmore stable and mature\u201d texts, including two poems, the transcription of a 60-page notebook by the author, and his general ethnographic survey (Folklore survey form \u2013 National language)<\/em>. \u201cM\u00e1rio enjoyed his work with Brazilian speech\u2014it gave him artistic and intellectual satisfaction. Although he did not publish this work, it was his linguistic inventory and supported the stylization of Brazilian speech that he used in his literary and nonliterary texts,\u201d concludes Almeida.<\/div>\n

Project
\n<\/strong>Study of M\u00e1rio de Andrade’s creative process in manuscripts from his archives, correspondence, marginalia, and critiques (no. 06\/54705-1<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Thematic Project; Principal Investigator<\/strong> Therezinha Apparecida Porto Ancona Lopez (USP); Investment <\/strong>R$394,832.19.<\/p>\n

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