Rua Conselheiro João Alfredo, 954-1256, Sao Miguel do Guamá - PA, 68660-000, Brazil
De Faria attended Colégio Santo Antônio Maria Zaccaria from 1922 to 1926.
Rua Conselheiro João Alfredo, 954-1256, Sao Miguel do Guamá - PA, 68660-000, Brazil
De Faria attended Colégio Santo Antônio Maria Zaccaria from 1922 to 1926.
critic journalist translator author
Otávio de Faria was born on October 15, 1908, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the son of Alberto de Faria, an author, and Maria Teresa Almeida. His maternal grandfather, Thomaz Coehlho de Almeida, served twice as imperial minister under Dom Pedro II and founded the Colégio Militar. De Faria's father was a member of the Academy of Letters, as were his brothers-in-law, Alceu Amoroso Lima, and writer Afrânio Peixoto. The family owned mansions in both Rio de Janeiro and Petrópolis.
De Faria attended Colégio Santo Antônio Maria Zaccaria from 1922 to 1926, and in 1931 received a law degree from Escola Nacional de Direito.
De Faria's "Tragédia burguesa," fifteen volumes published over four decades, is his study of the failed spirituality of a generation that matured between the wars. He was a contributor to many publications and was recognized for his own work by Brazil's Academy of Letters. Although de Faria held a degree in law, he never used it, instead devoting himself to literature.
De Faria favored the introspective novel of the 1930s. His enthusiasm for film led de Faria to found the Chaplin Club and the film magazine O Fan, yet he was opposed to sound.
Before beginning his "Tragédia burguesa," de Faria wrote several book-length essays that reflect his political views, including the dangers of democracy and socialism. De Faria was influenced by European thinkers, such as Nietzsche, Berdiaef, and Maurras, and also by Jackson de Figueiredo, Alceu Amoroso Lima, and others of the Brazilian Catholic right.
With Mundo mortos, de Faria gave up political writing in favor of addressing religion and literary subjects. The books of "Tragédia burguesa" follow a number of characters through life, like the noble Branco and Father Luís. Most of de Faria's characters are struggling with temptation and attempting to resist the sins of the flesh.
In Mundos mortos, Branco first encounters his rival, Pedro Borges, who it is said will later enjoy a successful literary career. In Os Caminhos da vida, Branco loses to Borges in a fraudulent election for the position of editor of a school journal, a plot that mirrors Faria's vision of the moral and political corruption of Brazil. In Os Renegados, Branco tells his grandfather, Alvaro Barros, that he does not believe in politics, and Barros, upset with his grandson's announcement, tells him the story of Antonio Silvio, his fugitive uncle. Leftist revolutionary Silvio and his wife are killed in O Retrato da morte, and Branco makes a decision to similarly do away with Borges.
The final book, O Pássaro oculto, finds Branco being tried for murder and, after being acquitted, coping with his guilt. As the novel, and the series, ends, Branco accepts the fact that he has not been chosen by God to change the world and resolves to accept his fate and devote himself entirely to his family.
As a literary critic, de Faria engaged in polemics with Jorge Amado and other writers of the left about the role and nature of literature and literary practice, frequently denouncing what he called 'um excesso de Norte,' criticizing sociological fiction - especially the 'proletarian novel' - and lamenting the 'hatred' he saw as characterizing modern Brazilian letters.
Despite his literary concern with exploring the psychological, moral, and spiritual despair of his characters and his close identification with Catholic currents in Brazilian literature, de Faria was far from being an apolitical writer.
Peixoto was a Brazilian physician, writer, politician, historian, university president, and pioneering eugenicist. He held many public offices, including Brazilian congressional representative from Bahia in the federal Câmara de Deputados, first the president of the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, member of the Brazilian Cultural Center in the United States, and president of the Academia Brasileira de Letras.
