SOURCE: Schwarz, Roberto. “The Importing of the Novel to Brazil and Its Contradictions in the Work of Alencar.” In Misplaced Ideas: Essays on Brazilian Culture, edited by John Gledson, pp. 41-77. London: Verso, 1992.

In the following essay, Schwarz discusses the rise of the novel in Brazil, focusing particularly on the works of José de Alencar.

The novel had existed in Brazil before there were any Brazilian novelists.¹ So when they appeared, it was natural that they should follow the European models, both good and bad, which had already become entrenched in our reading habits. An obvious statement, perhaps, but one which has many implications: our imagination had become focused on an artistic form whose presuppositions, in the main, either did not apply to Brazil at all, or applied in altered circumstances. Which was at fault: the form—the most prestigious of the period—or the country? One example...