Thankful should be those who enjoy positive influences which, when they least expect or desire them, draw them in, brighten their days, and bring them an unexpected sense of well-being. On the other hand, those who must deal with opposing influences can never be too careful. Giving in to them often means allowing oneself to be dragged toward an abyss where, in a moment of losing control, one might make a mistake. One is never as far from anguish as one imagines… And, after all, when one knows the true nature of things, heavy is the burden of realizing that the despair one experiences is, in truth, the result less of influences than of decisions.
Some Complain That Contemporary Literature…
Some complain that contemporary literature lacks life, and that it resembles a castle of empty words and ideas. Well, that is the practical and predictable result of Saussure’s idea, according to which the meaning of a word is nothing more than the difference between it and all the others. I myself, when I think a little about this modern linguistics, feel that I am slowly ceasing to be a man and turning into a word. With such advances in this new science, I imagine that, after a graduate degree in linguistics, a subject should already be able to see his name instead of his face in a mirror. There is nothing surprising about this.
There Are Scholars Who Do Not Consider Farias Brito…
There are scholars who do not consider Farias Brito a philosopher; there are literary critics who consider Lima Barreto a minor writer. And yet, it is possible to read the works of both with tears in the eyes. When the texts are taken out of context and reduced to objects of technical and structural analysis, much of their meaning disappears. It should be somewhat obvious, but there are always those who ignore the dimension that the author’s person can lend to his work. Perhaps this is a consequence of modernity. And the result is very simple: if you ignore it, you will be unable to discern the sincere from the feigned, authenticity from affectation; the text will be nothing more than a jumble of words; the depth of the discourse will never be grasped. There will be no difference, after all, between reading a comic book and reading Osamu Dazai.
The Best Tool for Literary Self-Promotion
Very often, the best tool for literary self-promotion is criticism. And very often, such criticism ends up devolving into outright slander. The examples are endless. The author, sometimes a future author, begins his career by opposing the model he dislikes. He censures, disapproves, lists flaws, and disparages. The target, usually long gone, does not respond. And that’s the end of it. While, on the one hand, the critic ends up refining his own ideas through criticism, on the other, he cannot prevent negative feelings from arising from it. Some time later, he will wonder: was that really necessary? And it turns out that, in literature, styles, themes, and possibilities are so varied that it is very easy to dislike something when confronted with that other, intensely strong identification. Therefore, is it justified for a writer to devote himself to attacking another writer? Undoubtedly, but only when mere preference is supplanted by a sense of betrayal of the vocation.