When the Periphery Becomes the Center: New Trends in Contemporary Brazilian Fiction

Abstract

Contemporary literature has always been a dynamic arena for reflecting on and discussing a country’s social changes. With the worsening of social problems and the resurgence of right-wing forces in Brazil in the last decade, literature has endured a series of crises, but it has also found new opportunities. The “marginal writers” who attracted attention at the beginning of the century have gradually moved to the center of Brazilian literature. Aside from denouncing the social problems that exist in the periphery, such as violence, discrimination and poverty, they now pay more attention to the inner feelings of the vulnerable. On the other hand, writers who are known for their psychological descriptions have also begun to explore social issues, often maintaining the subjective perspectives of their characters. This essay argues that the merging of the marginal with the center and of collectivity with subjectivity implies the advent of a new type of narrative in contemporary Brazilian literature.