Literatura comparada no Brasil

A LITERATURA COMPARADA NO
BRASIL
Gilda Neves da Silva Bittencourt

RESUMO: Comparatism followed the steps of Brazilian literature investigation even before the establishment of Comparative Literature as a sistematic study, for it was a spontaneous practice which was present in the critical essays by different scholars. Comparative Literature has been introduced in Brazilian University from the 30's onwards. The name of
Antonio Candido de Mello e Souza has contributed to its development and consolidation, mainly through his renewed ideas of the concept of influence.
His critical discourse was the starting point for the search of a decolonized comparativist model. The establishment of graduate courses in Comparative
Literature on a regular basis has given a great impetus to the field in Brazil, producing in-depth studies which have shown the interliterary relations through a new point of view, breaking with the tradicional concepts of debts and influences. The ripening of Comparative Literature in Brazil can be measured by the creation of the National Association (ABRALIC) in 1986, and by the realization of four National Conferences.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: literatura comparada, história do comparatismo no
Brasil, conceito de influência, modelo comparatista descolonizado.

Os estudos de Literatura Comparada no Brasil não podem ser desvinculados dos estudos da própria Literatura Brasileira, ou, mais especificamente, da atividade crítica desenvolvida sobre ela desde o
Romantismo. Esta constatação encontra respaldo nas palavras do professor e crítico literário Antonio Candido de Mello e Souza, quando afirma que
"a nossa produção foi sempre tão vinculada aos exemplos externos, que insensivelmente os estudiosos efetuavam as suas análises ou elaboravam os seus juízos tomando a esses como ponto de reparo." (MELLO E SOUZA, 1988, p. 17)

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Assim, muito antes de se instituir entre nós a noção de Literatura