The Gororoba and the first scenes of proletarian life in Brazil

Abstract

This article intends to offer a reading of the novel O Gororoba by Lauro Palhano (1931), pseudonym of Juvêncio Lopes da Silva Campos (1881-1947). O Gororoba, which aims to show scenes from proletarian life in Brazil, was first published in 1931, and is still very little known to both the reading public and literary critics. The present reading of the book is situated in the broader context of a reflection on literature and politics in Brazil in the 1930s. At first, the article shows the arrival of the proletarian novel in the country, which was in vogue in the West at the time, it also shows the controversial discussion that followed about its manifestation in Brazilian literature, placing above all the repercussions of the publication of O Gororoba. Then, the article devotes itself to reading the novel, trying to show some characteristics that bring it closer and others that distance it from the proletarian novel genre. At the same time, the article argues that O Gororoba, regardless of whether or not it was a proletarian novel, when published in 1931, it certainly exhibited, for the readership and literary critics, striking and unknown scenes of proletarian life in Brazil, scenes that, most likely, appeared for the first time on the pages of Brazilian literature