Uma literatura sob tensão: a difícil tarefa do leitor de Oswaldo Reynoso e Rubem Fonseca

Abstract

This thesis takes its theoretical object from the books En Octubre no ha milagros (1965) by Peruvian writer Oswaldo Reynoso (1931-2016) and Feliz Novo Ano (1975) written by Rubem Fonseca (1925-2020). The books comprise a mosaic of Brazilian and Peruvian artistic productions, named in their countries as new narrative, which are tangent when portraying a gallery of characters from the underworld of large cities, from the ironic, grotesque and obscene perspective, in a transgressive dimension of the urban experience. The theoretical hypothesis that supports this research is that these productions operate from a dialectical tension, from different dimensions: from the real and fictional opposition in the realisms engendered there; in the dichotomy between ethics and aesthetics in the creative process of each author; in the murky morality that re-elaborates limit and transgression based on crime. This thesis aims to carry out a comparative analysis between the works that radicalize the modern urban account under a new, violently realistic perspective, in which brutality, the amplified look at the humanity of the characters and the complexity of their moral dimension are intertwined. In addition, it seeks to reflect how these works are taken up by contemporary criticism when considering that, in recent decades, the theme of violence in artistic productions has become increasingly evident, updating the theoretical and critical discussion of both the aesthetic elements articulated in these materials, as well as the historical interrelationships they refer to.