My thoughts on it are here: a piece for the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative on one of Brazil’s best-loved writers and why we’ve never heard of him.
Graciliano Ramos: All educated Brazilians have read at least one of his books and more avid readers will readily name a favorite among his novels. In 1941, a national literary poll in Brazil named him one of the country’s ten greatest novelists—one of only four living authors on the list—and his reputation seems only to have increased in the sixty years since his death, with all his books still in print, special issues on anniversaries, and beautiful boxed sets.
Paulo Scott, a rising Brazilian literary star, opens a 2012 essay about his literary hero in Asymptote by marveling at how little-known Graciliano is in the wider literary world. It’s unjust: “If we were to take stock of Brazilian writers from the first half of the twentieth century—from among those writers who produced the most relevant parts of their oeuvre in the first half of the twentieth century—and ask which writer has had the greatest impact and influence on the way Brazilian writers write today, I have no doubt that the name of Graciliano Ramos would make the top of the list.” In Brazil, in other words, in literary circles at least, a mention of Graciliano Ramos almost inevitably elicits passion. A mention of him in North America elicits a blank stare. Why?
One Response to “Why is Graciliano Ramos barely read outside of Brazil?”
John Ladhams
I was very impressed by your piece on Graciliano Ramos. Of course, your translation of Sao Bernardo must have helped spread the word in the US, and there appears to be a decent translation of Vidas Secas – “Barren Lives”. But what about Angustia and Caetes, and above all, Memorial da Carcare, an absolute masterpiece?
I was born in 1947, have a degree in Spanish & Portuguese from Bristol University (1968), where Graciliano was required reading on the course. But that was then, and he is still unknown here in the UK. From 1968 to 1995, I lived and worked in Portugal, followed by almost a decade in Brazil. During that time, I was a lecturer at a number of Universities in both countries, but also a freelance translator. Now back in the UK, I eventually got a PhD in Portuguese Linguistics in 2003, and I am now Honorary Research Fellow in Social Anthropology at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
However, I have also been working on translations of Graciliano, particularly Angustia and Memorias, but also his short stories. BTW, is Graciliano included in your forthcoming Anthology with Daniel Hahn? I am a huge admirer of Daniel, by the way, but he does seem to be, how shall I say, ‘difficult to contact’!
Anyway, Padmavi, I apologise for this rather long comment, which has ended up being All about Me, rather than Greciliano, but hopefully we can continue this initial contact by email, OK?
Um grande abraço,
John Ladhams.