Schwarz’s Modernism: Between Artistic Affinity and Intellectual Distance

This text aims to study the contradictory relationship between Roberto Schwarz and Brazilian modernismBrazilian modernism. On the one hand, it seeks to understand how the dialectics of Roberto Schwarz are presented in the styleStyle of his own writings. It argues that his critique shows a keen perception of the potential of the essay form for the criticism and interpretationInterpretation of Brazilian literature and culture. By doing so, it re-evaluates Schwarz’s relationship with Brazilian modernismBrazilian modernism, besides recovering his own creative work such as his poetry collection Corações veteranosSchwarz, Roberto (1974) and his play A lata de lixo da históriaSchwarz, Roberto (1977). On the other hand, it discusses how Schwarz understands two historical periods (realismRealism and modernism) and two aesthetic programs (realistic narrativeNarrative and montage). For this purpose, a review of some key points of Schwarz's work is carried out, focusing mainly on the book A Master on the Periphery of Capitalism: Machado de Assis (1990) and on the essay “The Cart, the Tram and the Modernist PoetSchwarz, Roberto\“The Cart, the Tram and the Modernist Poet\”” (1987). As a conclusion, it suggests that Schwarz’s often negative assessment of the modernist movement can be counterbalanced by a global approach that preserves his critical analysis but widens the literary map, which leads to new perspectives on Brazilian modernismBrazilian modernism and Schwarz’s theoretical position.