The lyricism in the limit: Rubem Braga's and Paulo Mendes Campos' chronicle

Abstract

One of the foundations of the chronicle genre is the subjectivity that pervades its stories. Among the several writers active during the 50s and 60s in the space of the Brazilian chronicle (the most creative decades within this literary genre if we take into account the shades of humor as well as the most intimate sensitivity), Rubem Braga and Paulo Mendes Campos stand out for the extent of their perceptions expressed in the text. The present work analyses some features of the lyrical operation performed by both writers in a time when human goals diverged from the delicate and fragile matter. On valuing exactly these aspects of life and pondering over their new senses, Paulo and Rubem redefine the sense of the modern lyric, adjusting its literary procedures to the crises of the individual and to the modifications of the individual expression.