Arquivo de literature | Page 95 of 111

Perhaps There Has Never Been a Profession as Prostituted as That of Writer

Being a man of letters is almost always a thankless task. And perhaps there has never been a profession as prostituted as that of writer. It is true, the distinction between the qualities of the great writer and the successful writer has always seemed very clear. But today, in a world where success is a sovereign qualitative criterion, it seems more than ever that the man of letters must adapt to the terrible reality that drives him to be, as well as an artist, a salesman—and refusal seems to be the certainty of oblivion. Well, it has never been so honorable to be ignored in life and to follow, obstinately, in the opposite direction of contemporary conventions. Penury! Contempt! And the unsubmissive spirit will know, alone, what it is to think out of chains.

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My Newspaper

I dreamed of creating a newspaper. The scene was the following: around a table, my team, very excited, started to discuss the editorial line of the periodical, when the spirits were exalted. We would fight the injustices of the world: of course, of course! And representativeness would be a must! Of whom, where? This is what the cries were trying to express. Everyone shouted their own opinion. I was silent, afraid to say what I thought—but I thought: “Oh, magnificent nonsense!”; and, obviously, to say it would be my ruin, since some opinions are socially forbidden…—Then, in the middle of the verbal war, when everything seemed irresolvable, they asked me for the word of the owner of the newspaper. Suddenly, having to express in a few words my opinion about which class was the most wronged of all times, about which guidelines I thought most noble for the newspaper, and taking care not to offend the team that I needed motivated, I answered: “Let’s do the following. All the guidelines are very important”—and I led them all to a crematorium. I asked for an interview with the oven operator; I asked him: “Explain to us, friend, what your work consists of”. Of course, my newspaper never published the first edition.

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Jude the Obscure, by Thomas Hardy

Jude the Obscure is Thomas Hardy’s latest novel. Received in hostility by the critics, some say that the epithets from “dirty” to “immoral” justified Hardy living little more than thirty years without publishing a new novel. The fact is that Hardy abandoned the genre exactly after the publication of a masterpiece. As for the criticism, Swift has well defined: “When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him”. And it is not possible today, far from the petty conveniences of Victorian society, not to classify the work as brilliant. Brilliant and inducer of the revolt: Jude the Obscure exposes the entrails of this repugnant organization called society. Jude, the protagonist, faces a freedom-limiting environment, oppressive against any manifestation of the individual. The masses, naturally, are presented as despicable, hostile to the diverse, incapable of accepting what does not replicate their mediocrity. Social organization based on conventions, almost always stupid, unnatural, and inductive of injustice; authoritarianism figuring as its essence and the very clear message: society is a filthy machine. It is difficult not to read the work and think that what is convenient is essentially unworthy. Jude, still young, aims at high culture, despite his very limited possibilities. For years he feeds a dream, when they see him, in the village where he lives, as a promising young man. Then they set him up. A girl seduces him, eager for ascension: she drags him into her own home, subjecting him to embarrassment assisted of her father. Jude is forced to judge that marriage is a requirement of honor and marries, even though he is unable to do so. Reality changes abruptly: Jude then sees his horizon crassly limited, with all his dreams blown away because of a compulsory need for money. Soon the marriage shows him its perverse face: his wife, dissatisfied, leaves him and changes country, but does not release him from the eternal commitment he made before the priest, forced by conventions. Then the narrative advances and Jude, falling in love with his cousin, feels in the flesh the curse of being born belonging to the human species. It is to read and feel the rebellion pulsing. Some depreciated the construction of Hardy’s characters, judging them hostages of a biological determinism; some said of several scenes “immoral”, “absurd” and many other things. But here is the truth: Hardy’s narrative convinces, the characters are alive and real, and Jude the Obscure‘s plot is conducted with an extreme skill. Time already seems to show how virtuous the conventions of Victorian society were. And it also seems to highlight this: Jude the Obscure is an immortal novel.

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The Role of Literary Critics in the Intellectual’s Formation

One of the fundamental and primary decisions in an intellectual’s trajectory is to decide which guides he will use to elaborate his route and help him apprehend what he will see along the way. Deprived of the support, the long journey presents him with almost insurmountable obstacles. For this reason, before traveling along it, it is necessary to study it, to define the best route, or the route that best fits his objectives. What does he want to see on the way? Here is another important question: the possibilities are immense… That’s why the role of literary critics is so important. They are the ones who walk alternative paths—often extremely unpleasant—and give the summary of their wanderings. Where is the light? Where the darkness? Without them, we find ourselves in closed woods, lost and helpless. But how do we choose our guides? Another very difficult question. The good guide must deliver security and arouse admiration. Then one must have more confidence in him than in oneself. Thus, a great critic must gather, besides a vast knowledge, very rare personal qualities, otherwise, he will be worse in his function. Like the artist, the critic must be observant, detailed, curious; he must intentionally seek what is different, take precisely the routes that appear to be the most frightening; he must be fair, receptive to the contradictory, willing to abandon each of his convictions; he must be able to see merits where they seem not to exist and, above all, he must be able to make the very difficult distinction between the best and the most pleasant. Only in this way will he be able to say, with a clear conscience and in fair words, which is the best route, or which routes lead to which places; otherwise he will be a disloyal conductor, a manipulator, and not infrequently he will show in his work the defects of his character. Thus, as walkers we must answer the question: “By whom do we wish to be influenced?”—and the answer, despite appearances, will also say much about us.

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