Chapter 3 Immigrant and Ethnic-Minority Writing in Brazilian Literature: A Fundamental Presence
In: Immigrant and Ethnic-Minority Writers since 1945Search for other papers by Sandra Regina Goulart Almeida in
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Abstract
This chapter analyses the historical background and the development of the field of immigrant writing in the context of Brazilian literature, as well as the theoretical and critical model that has supported this study. It maps out authors and critics who address the theme of immigration while it discusses the complex task of establishing the limits between a so-called immigration literature and Brazil’s own national literature. Although the image of the immigrant has been a persistent presence on Brazil’s literary scene from the outset, immigrant writers have been recognised over the years as national writers and regarded as an important element of the country’s cultural heritage. Only in recent years, in a more contemporary perspective, have the representation of the immigrant in literature and the analysis of this representation in literary criticism undergone a re-evaluation of the national paradigm that has thus far predominated.