Antonio Candido and the awareness of backwardness

Abstract

This article focuses on some inflections of Antonio Candido’s work: first, we present his historical perspective on Brazilian literature and culture in the “years of development” (1950s), which pointed to the integration of Brazil into the civilized nations club; in the sequence, the impact of the military coup d’état (1964) on the author’s thinking and the changes in his perception of the modernization of the country in the a world ruled by imperialism; finally, we discuss, as a consequence of that impact, the praise of popular culture in the evaluation of some works of the nineteenth century, as well as the corresponding expectation of a cultural and political transformation of the country through a great alliance, a great national pact.