Lavoura arcaica

uma obra “deslocada”

Abstract

The current paper seeks to understand how Lavoura Arcaica (1975), by Raduan Nassar, figures within the scope of Contemporary Brazilian Literature, mainly because, although the aforementioned novel was written in the 1970s, it is clear that there is something that makes it unique and particular within this production. So, we seek to understand the way in which Nassar's novel makes a kind of rupture not only in relation to meaning, but also in relation to structure. Lavoura Arcaica has a linguistic arrangement that distances itself from the referentiality and objectivity that were so evident at the time of the 1970s, presenting, for example, the reinterpretation of the Parable of the Prodigal Son as the structuring matrix and driving force of the entire narrative, in addition to a language in which lyricism becomes, at times, preponderant, which suggests a dialogical relationship not immediately with the moment in question, but also with traditional literary forms. It is possible, therefore, that one of the reasons why – among others – critics had relative difficulty in “accommodating” Nassar’s text within the aforementioned period originated precisely from this tension. Thus, we will consider these elements based primarily on the reflections of Giorgio Agamben, in O que é Contemporâneo (2009) and Signatura Rereum (2019).