Two modes of narrating the criminal child in twentieth-century Brazilian literature: Jorge Amado and Murilo Rubião

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37508/rcl.2022.n47a478
Keywords: Gothic, narrator, Jorge Amado, Murilo Rubião, children

Abstract

Based on critical works such as those by Steven Bruhm (2006) and Robin Wood, this article reflects on the relations between childhood and crime in twentieth-century pieces that are tributary of negative poetic traditions. Our starting point was the hypothesis that there are two preponderant narrative modes: (i) denouncing narrators, who draw attention to child monstrosity as a consequence of social issues; and (ii) impassive narrators, who, by not offering explicit justifications for child criminality, tend to present it as inherent and insolvable. To illustrate these premises, we turned to the novel Capitães da Areia (1937), by Jorge Amado, and to the short story “A Casa do Girassol Vermelho” (1947), by Murilo Rubião.

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Author Biographies

Júlio França, Rio de Janeiro State University

Professor associado de Teoria da Literatura na Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Tem doutorado em Literatura Comparada pela UFF (2006), com pós-doutorado na Brown Universi­ty (2014-2015). Pesquisador do CNPq e Bolsista do programa Prociência (UERJ/FAPERJ), é coordenador do grupo de pesquisa Estudos do Gótico (CNPq) e coeditor do periódico acadêmico Abusões.

Daniel Augusto Pereira Silva, Rio de Janeiro State University

Doutorando em Teoria da Litera­tura e Literatura Comparada (UERJ) e bolsista CAPES sob orientação do Prof. Dr. Júlio França. Seu projeto de tese trata do grotesco na prosa de fic­ção decadente brasileira e francesa. Atualmente, trabalha como professor substituto do setor de Letras Francesas da UFRJ.

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capa da edição 47
Published
2022-08-14
How to Cite
França, J., & Pereira Silva, D. A. (2022). Two modes of narrating the criminal child in twentieth-century Brazilian literature: Jorge Amado and Murilo Rubião. Converência Lusíada, 33(47), 148-174. https://doi.org/10.37508/rcl.2022.n47a478
Issue
Vol. 33 No. 47 (2022): Crime and criminals in Portuguese-language literature
Section
DOSSIER

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