O país do carnaval na época da Revolução de 1930: um estudo do primeiro romance de Jorge Amado

Abstract

O país do carnaval, by Jorge Amado, was written in the timeframe of the 1930’s Revolution in Brazil. This political affair, which allowed great transformations, is understood by historians as an essentially oligarchic event, that renewed and kept this class in power. In the novel, although the central point of the narrative is the dissatisfaction in life and the pursue of individual happiness, the historical context is important and is part of its structure. The fictional time, however, goes beyond the book’s publication date. The literary critic has been pointing out the presence of the revolution, albeit not conducting a detained investigation on Jorge Amado’s novel.  Thus, this work studies the representation of the 1930's Revolution in O país do carnaval, particularly by analyzing two characters of the book. On one hand, there is Paulo Rigger, who even as a representative of the cocoa bourgeoisie, seems not to care about the political transformation underway and the economic situation of the country. On the other hand, José Lopes who, although making small appearances in the book, has a fundamental role on taking a stand for communism and can be seen as a counterpart to the main character. In writing this paper, the works of Camargo (1983), Fausto (1997; 2004), Oliveira (1981/1982), Souza (2019), Bueno (2006) and Castello (2011), among others, were used.