Contemporary Brazilian Short Stories

A colorful collection of short stories written by contemporary authors from Brazil

The 18 stories, by some of Brazil's best known authors, all have urban themes. They grapple with modern conflicts in the city such as the lack of communication among neighbors, the vicarious lives many lead, violence, political repression, isolation, and loneliness. Ferreira- Pinto noticed the need for such an anthology while teaching 20th- century Brazilian literature in a US university. He includes a bibliography of fiction, critical works, and English translations and biographical sketches of the authors. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

The short story has a long rich history in Brazil, and this anthology collects the best examples from the last 125 years. The collection is edited by a leading authority in the field who has provided a critical introduction.

The seventeen stories in this anthology have been carefully chosen to provide a wide, representative range of recent and contemporary Brazilian themes and styles. The scenes vary from a nearly abandoned village or a ranch in the northeastern backlands to the streets of Rio and Sao Paulo. The characters, equally diverse, embrace wealthy land-owners, middle-class merchants, cowboys, thieves and prostitues. There is a diversity too in modd. Especially striking is the irony found in most of these stories. Characteristic of much of the best Brazilian fiction from Machado de Assis to Guimaraes Rosa, this irony tempers the underlying warmth of the stories with a certain wryness. Incidentally, Guimaraes Rosa, the giant of contemporary Brazilian fiction, is represented in this collection by an unconventional and unforgettable little masterpiece, "The Third Bank of the River." Brazilian humor is siad to be much like North American humor. In any case, it is here in abundance, variously mordant, hilarious, casual, homely, nostalgic, and, in Graciliano Ramos's story of an inept thief, almost Chaplinesque. But there is also a certain voluptuous melancholy, the much bruited tristeza brasileira. In such stories as "My Father's Hat," it blend with the humor to produce and enchantment profoundly Brazilian in ton and feeling. "The Crime of the Mathematics Professor" is a strange plunge into the mystery of a man's sense of guilt. With this sole exception, the stories in the present anthology are thoroughly Brazilian and yet, by a sort of mass literary miracle, universal. The reader may find the setting and the manners exotic at times, but he will understand the people. For there is a pervasive humanity in Brazil's best writers and, even when the "local color" is striking, they are never merely parochial. When their settings are provincial it is because the provinces are where they can see the human comedy most vividly. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1967.

ENGLISH SYNOPSIS:The Contemporary Brazilian Short Stories (CBSS) initiative was conceived in January 2011, when Brazilian authors of different ages, regions and backgrounds were first contacted about the opportunity to have their work translated into English. In June 2011, we started posting the content to BrazilianShortStories.com, which is updated twice a month, with a new story every 1st and 15th day. The main idea behind presenting this collection online and in book form is to publish the work of contemporary authors from Brazil who have not always had a chance to let their voices be carried to all corners of the world. In translation, the reach of their work in English could be far wider and may bring a piece of Brazil to many readers the world over. And this is exactly the purpose of CBSS: to facilitate the access of international readers to stories written from a Brazilian perspective. Our goal is to touch such varied themes as personal and professional life, love, loneliness, comedy, crime, environment, and random observations of daily routines. Here you'll read twenty-four stories that were originally published online between July 2012 and June 2013. They are organized alphabetically in two sections: The first one is in English, accompanied by the author's biography, and the second one is in the original Portuguese, also displaying the author's contact info. We hope you enjoy these stories and continue to discover our Brazilian talents.SINOPSE EM PORTUGUÊSContemporary Brazilian Short Stories (CBSS) é uma iniciativa literária que foi criada em janeiro de 2011, quando escritores brasileiros de idades, regiões e experiências diversas foram procurados para ter uma oportunidade de ver seu trabalho traduzido para o inglês. Em junho de 2011, começamos a publicar o conteúdo no site BrazilianShortStories.com, que é atualizado duas vezes ao mês, todo dia 1° e 15. A ideia principal por trás desta coletânea, apresentada on-line e em formato de livro, é publicar o trabalho de escritores contemporâneos do Brasil que nem sempre têm uma chance de ver suas vozes alcançando os quatro cantos do mundo. Por meio da tradução, o alcance do seu trabalho em inglês poderia ser bem mais amplo e levar um pedacinho do Brasil para muitos leitores pelo mundo inteiro. E é exatamente esse o propósito do CBSS: facilitar o acesso dos leitores internacionais às histórias escritas desde um ponto de vista brasileiro. Nosso objetivo é explorar temas variados, de vida profissional à pessoal, amor, solidão, comédia, crime, meio ambiente e observações aleatórias do cotidiano. Aqui, você vai ler vinte e quarto contos publicados originalmente entre julho de 2012 e junho de 2013, organizados alfabeticamente em duas partes: a primeira está em inglês e vem acompanhada da biografia de cada autor; a segunda, apresenta o original em português e as informações de contato. Esperamos que você goste destes contos e continue descobrindo os nossos talentos brasileiros.