Caio Fernando Abreu
Encyclopedia
“Caio Fernando Loureiro de Abreu” (September 12, 1948—February 25, 1996), best known as “Caio Fernando Abreu” is one of the most influential and original Brazilian writers of the 70’s and 80’s generation . Caio F., as he habitually singed his letters , was born in Santiago do Boqueirão in the state of Rio Grande do Sul
in 1948, and died in Porto Alegre
in 1996 .
Abreu studied at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul but abandoned academia before graduating to write for pop culture magazines such as Revista Nova, Revista Manchete, Revista Veja and Revista Pop. He was a prolific journalist
and literary writer
. He wrote short stories, novels, chronicles or crônicas, drama, and he also maintained throughout his life an extensive correspondence with other writers and artists, family and friends .
In 1968 Abreu was put on the wanted list by the DOPS or the Departamento de Ordem Política e Social, a repressive branch of the Brazilian government that operated during years when the repressive military regime was in power, but found refuge at the country estate of Brazilian writer Hilda Hilst
, located near the city of Campinas
, in state of São Paulo
. During the early 70s he spent one year in self-exile in Europe
, spending time in England
, Sweden
, France
, Holland and in Spain
.
In 1983 he relocated from his native Porto Alegre
, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, to the city of Rio de Janeiro
; and in 1985 he moved to the city of São Paulo. Abreu then return again to France in 1994 where he found out that he was HIV positive. That same year he returned home to Porto Alegre permanently to live with his parents. He enjoyed gardening
before passing away there two years later.
Brazilian cultural identity in Caio Fernando Abreu's writings is anything but a fixed, essential entity, pure from foreign contamination . Abreu is a camp writer since his works are full of examples of queer sensibility, and of multiple appropriations of mainstream heterosexual society into queer narratives . His literature is inspired by writers like Clarice Lispector
and Julio Cortázar
but also by Brazilian Popular Music MPB
, Afro Brazilian music, Hollywood films, and North American literature
and music. Abreu’s Brazil is urban, queer, corrupt, isolated, but his main concern is the human existence in an urban setting .
Caio Fernando Abreu’s style of confessional literature captures his personal fears, hopes, sentiments and desires but, at the same time, his voice is both individual and collective . Caio Fernando Abreu also introduced the topic of AIDS into Brazilian literature. The discourse of AIDS was already present in Abreu’s writing from the beginning of the epidemic in the 80’s . He is, along with Cazuza
and Renato Russo
, one of the most recognize Brazilian artists to have died of AIDS .
. Abreu has also written the screenplay for Sergio Bianchi's 1988 feature Romance..
Rio Grande do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state in Brazil, and the state with the fifth highest Human Development Index in the country. In this state is located the southernmost city in the country, Chuí, on the border with Uruguay. In the region of Bento Gonçalves and Caxias do Sul, the largest wine...
in 1948, and died in Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
in 1996 .
Abreu studied at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul but abandoned academia before graduating to write for pop culture magazines such as Revista Nova, Revista Manchete, Revista Veja and Revista Pop. He was a prolific journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and literary writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
. He wrote short stories, novels, chronicles or crônicas, drama, and he also maintained throughout his life an extensive correspondence with other writers and artists, family and friends .
In 1968 Abreu was put on the wanted list by the DOPS or the Departamento de Ordem Política e Social, a repressive branch of the Brazilian government that operated during years when the repressive military regime was in power, but found refuge at the country estate of Brazilian writer Hilda Hilst
Hilda Hilst
Hilda de Almeida Prado Hilst, more widely known as Hilda Hilst was a Brazilian poet, playwright and novelist, whose fiction and poetry were generally based upon delicate intimacy and often insanity and supernatural events. Particularly her late works belong to the tradition of magic realism.-Early...
, located near the city of Campinas
Campinas
Campinas is a city and municipality located in the coastal interior of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. is the administrative center of the meso-region of the same name, with 3,783,597 inhabitants as of the 2010 Census, consisting of 49 cities....
, in state of São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
. During the early 70s he spent one year in self-exile in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, spending time in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Holland and in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
In 1983 he relocated from his native Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre
Porto Alegre is the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil, with 1,409,939 inhabitants, and the centre of Brazil's fourth largest metropolitan area . It is also the capital city of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The city is the southernmost capital city of a Brazilian...
, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, to the city of Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
; and in 1985 he moved to the city of São Paulo. Abreu then return again to France in 1994 where he found out that he was HIV positive. That same year he returned home to Porto Alegre permanently to live with his parents. He enjoyed gardening
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...
before passing away there two years later.
Caio Fernando Abreu’s Identities
Caio Fernando Abreu literature is a testimony of the culture, society and politics of Brazil in the 70’s and 80’s . As a journalist, he was an active cultural actor, writing reviews and chronicles for a number of Brazilian popular magazines. As a fictional writer, Abreu introduced new identities into the realm of Brazilian literature. His narratives come from the subjectivity of a bisexual man in his mid-forties who has AIDS . In Os dragões não conhecem o paraíso (Dragons), his most famous book of short stories, the majority of characters are either gay or they act as if they are . Examples of such identities are drag queens, gay teenagers, bisexual men, and other individuals whose sexualities and gender identities reside in the periphery of society. A number of literary critics have noted Abreu’s attempt to create a Brazilian queer identity using the figures of monsters or dragons. The characters of books such as Os dragões não conhecem o paraíso (1988), Onde andará Dulce Vega (1990) and Morangos mofados (1982) live and function in the periphery of society, they are in many ways equivalent to queer characters in North American literary traditions.Brazilian cultural identity in Caio Fernando Abreu's writings is anything but a fixed, essential entity, pure from foreign contamination . Abreu is a camp writer since his works are full of examples of queer sensibility, and of multiple appropriations of mainstream heterosexual society into queer narratives . His literature is inspired by writers like Clarice Lispector
Clarice Lispector
Clarice Lispector was a Brazilian writer. Acclaimed internationally for her innovative novels and short stories, she was also a journalist...
and Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar, born Jules Florencio Cortázar, was an Argentine writer. Cortázar, known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, influenced an entire generation of Spanish speaking readers and writers in the Americas and Europe.-Early life:Cortázar's parents, Julio José Cortázar and...
but also by Brazilian Popular Music MPB
MPB
MPB can refer to:* Methane producing bacteria, another name for methanogen bacteria* Media Prima Berhad, a Malaysian media corporation* Música Popular Brasileira, Brazilian Popular Music* Male pattern baldness, a form of Androgenetic alopecia...
, Afro Brazilian music, Hollywood films, and North American literature
North American literature
North American literature is the literature produced in North America. It includes literature in several languages, and from many countries.-See also:*Caribbean literature...
and music. Abreu’s Brazil is urban, queer, corrupt, isolated, but his main concern is the human existence in an urban setting .
Caio Fernando Abreu’s style of confessional literature captures his personal fears, hopes, sentiments and desires but, at the same time, his voice is both individual and collective . Caio Fernando Abreu also introduced the topic of AIDS into Brazilian literature. The discourse of AIDS was already present in Abreu’s writing from the beginning of the epidemic in the 80’s . He is, along with Cazuza
Cazuza
Agenor Miranda Araújo Neto, better known as Cazuza was a Brazilian composer and singer, born in Rio de Janeiro. Along with Raul Seixas, Renato Russo and Os Mutantes, Cazuza is considered one of the best exponents of Brazilian rock music....
and Renato Russo
Renato Russo
Renato Russo was a Brazilian singer and songwriter. His first band was a punk rock band called "Aborto Elétrico" . The band then broke up and split in two different ones: "Capital Inicial" and "Legião Urbana"...
, one of the most recognize Brazilian artists to have died of AIDS .
Abreu's work in film
Two of Abreu's short stories has been made into film: Aqueles Dois was made into a 1983 feature film directed by Sergio Amon and Sargento Garcia was made into a 2000 short film directed by Tutti Gregianin. Over the years, "Aqueles Dois" has enjoyed several theatre adaptations. . His novel Onde Andará Dulce Veiga was also made into a feature film, released in Brazil in 2007 and directed by Caio's friend Guilherme de Almeida PradoGuilherme de Almeida Prado
Guilherme de Almeida Prado is a Brazilian film director.Graduated in civil engineering while at the same time doing movies...
. Abreu has also written the screenplay for Sergio Bianchi's 1988 feature Romance..
External links
- Some of the short stories by Caio Fernando Abreu. (Site in Portuguese).
- Os sobreviventes - short story. (Site in Portuguese).
- Aqueles dois - short story. (Site in Portuguese).
- Sargento Garcia, based on the sort story Aqueles Dois. View online (Film in Portuguese, no subtitles).