A Very Brief Overview of Surrealism in Brazil, by Mário de Andrade

Abstract

Starting from the controversial academic reception of Surrealism in Brazil – specifically regarding its presence in the country during the 20th century – this article aims to map Mário de Andrade’s perspective on the matter. It is possible to infer that the author of Macunaíma had contact with André Breton’s “Surrealist Manifesto”, as suggested by a letter from Sérgio Milliet, as well as with the poetic works of several important authors associated with the surrealist group, based on the books in his personal library – preserved at the Institute of Brazilian Studies (IEB) at the University of São Paulo (USP) – and his annotations on index cards. In this way, drawing on his critical texts published in various press outlets at the time, as well as on his epistolary output, this study seeks to identify the publications in which the São Paulo-born author recognized traits and influences of the French movement. Based on this survey, the aim is to understand what Mário de Andrade understood by Surrealism, and which aesthetic characteristics he associated with the movement led by Breton. He identified these influences in several of his contemporaries, including some of the most prominent figures of the Brazilian modernist movement, such as Prudente de Moraes Neto, Manuel Bandeira, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Fernando Mendes de Almeida, Rosário Fusco, among others. Finally, considering that Mário also discussed these ideas with some of these authors in his correspondence, it can be concluded that his perspective on Surrealism may be representative of the understanding of the movement that prevailed at the time within a particular social sphere—such as among intellectuals or young artists, for instance, from that time.