Graciliano Ramos left his mark on Brazilian literature with works that portrayed the life of the man from the northeast of Brazil in the sertão.
The writer belonged to the 2nd phase of modernism, whose main characteristic was regionalism. Raquel de Queiroz, Jorge Amado and José Lins do Rego were some of the authors who shared this phase with Ramos.
In important works such as “Vidas Secas ” and “São Bernardo”, one can see the realism with which the author describes the difficulties of life in the Sertão. Having lived most of his life in the interior of Alagoas, Graciliano was intimately familiar with this reality.
Because of his links to communism, Ramos was imprisoned during the Vargas dictatorship. His time in prison was recounted in Memórias do Cárcere, which includes an important episode in the story: the surrender of Olga Benário to the Germans.
The book was published without the last chapter, as the author died before finishing it.
Biography of Graciliano Ramos
Graciliano Ramos
- Literary Movement
- Style
- Biography
- Main books
1 Literary movement
The Northeastern writer belongs to the 1930s generation or Modernism of the Second Phase, a period in which nationalist and regionalist themes were strengthened.
At that time, from 1930 to 1945, writers from the Northeast in particular described the reality of the sertão and the exploitation of man.
Some of the authors of this regionalist phase are Raquel de Queiroz, José Lins do Rego, Jorge Amado and Érico Veríssimo.
2. Style
The author Graciliano Ramos doesn’t make any major linguistic innovations; his focus is on the narrative. As his main aim is to describe the situation of the people of the Northeast of Brazil, Ramos avoids language flourishes.
His writing style is clear and concise, reflecting in some passages the rougher way of speaking of the country he describes.
The author tries to portray the life of the people of the Northeast and their difficulties in the sertão. There is a strong pessimism and a blunt social criticism in his work.
3. Short biography
Graciliano Ramos de Oliveira was born in Quebrangulo, in the state of Alagoas, the son of Sebastião Ramos de Oliveira and Maria Amélia Ferro Ramos, one of the couple’s 16 children. From an early age he lived in a region marked by drought, a central theme in much of his literature.
His father, who had a rigid temperament, often used violence to discipline his children, which influenced the author’s view of human relationships, often depicted as violent in his works.
At the age of 12, in 1904, Graciliano founded the children’s newspaper “Dilúculo”. Later he worked as an editor at the “Echo Viçosense”, where he met Mário Venâncio, a figure he admired. At the time he was living in Viçosa, Alagoas, and the following year he went to study in Maceió, the state capital.
His first sonnets were published in the Rio magazine “O Malho”, under the pseudonym Feliciano de Olivença. Later, in the “Jornal de Alagoas”, he used other pseudonyms such as Soeiro Lobato, Lambda and Soares de Almeida Cunha.
In 1911 he began to work for the “Correio de Maceió”.
In 1914, he moved to Rio de Janeiro, where he collaborated with various publications, such as “Correio da Manhã”, “O Século”, “A Tarde” and “Paraíba do Sul”, but returned to Alagoas the following year, settling in Palmeira dos Índios. There he married Maria Augusta Ramos, with whom he had four children. Maria Augusta died in 1920.
Graciliano was elected Mayor of Palmeira dos Índios, but resigned after two years. He moved to Maceió, where he became Director of the Official Press and remarried to Heloisa Medeiros.
Although attracted to small-town life, Graciliano returned to Palmeira dos Índios, where he began writing the classic São Bernardo. His first published book, however, was “Caetés” in 1933. Another milestone in his career, “Vidas Secas”, wasn’t published until 1938 and was made into a film years later.
During the Getúlio Vargas dictatorship, Graciliano was accused of involvement in the Communist plot of 1935 and eventually arrested in Rio de Janeiro. The work “Angústia” dates from this period.
After his release, he worked as an copy editor for newspapers and in 1945 joined the Brazilian Communist Party, led by Luís Carlos Prestes.
Graciliano Ramos died of lung cancer in 1953.
His unfinished work, “Memórias do Cárcere”, was published posthumously, without the final chapter, thus consolidating his place in Brazilian literature.
4. Main books
Graciliano Ramos is known for his works that portray the reality of the Sertão and the difficulties of the people of the Northeast.
- Caetés (1933) – His first published novel, about the life of a civil servant in a small town in the Northeast.
- São Bernardo (1934) – A novel that tells the story of Paulo Honório, an ambitious man who seeks social advancement but is faced with existential emptiness.
- Angústia (1936) – An introspective novel that explores the psychological conflicts of a man tormented by frustration and resentment.
- Vidas Secas (1938) – His most famous book, it portrays the life of a migrant family struggling to survive in the drought-stricken Sertão.
- Childhood (1945) – An autobiographical book that recounts Graciliano’s childhood memories, highlighting family conflicts and the reality of the sertão.
- Memórias do Cárcere (1953, posthumous) – An account of his imprisonment during the Getúlio Vargas dictatorship, mixing personal memories with political reflections.
These works established Graciliano Ramos as one of the greatest writers in Brazilian literature.
Bahia.ws – Tourist Guide to the Northeast, Bahia and Salvador
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