The writing of Guimarães Rosa: a commitment of the heart

Abstract

By questioning any sort of literary convention and by introducing a significant number of innovations into Brazilian literature’s language and narrative structure, Guimarães Rosa accomplished in his works a real revolution of the national literary system. This attitude, on the one hand, has brought him closer to the early twentieth century Vanguards and to the first phase of the Brazilian Modernist movement, but, on the other hand, it has led several critics, particularly from Europe and the USA, to see him as a post-modern writer. In any case, however, it indicates a politico-philosophical position that can be represented by the author’s own words who, in an interview by the critic Günter Lorenz, affirmed that “it is only by renewing language that one can renew the world”. In this essay, we will present some of the main innovations introduced by the writer both in language and narrative structure, and will discuss the role they have had in his work as a whole and in the cadre of mid-twentieth century Brazilian literature.