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| Olhai os Lírios do Campo | |
|---|---|
| Name | Olhai os Lírios do Campo |
| Title orig | Olhai os Lírios do Campo |
| Author | Érico Veríssimo |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Country | Brazil |
| Genre | Novel |
| Published | 1938 |
| Publisher | Editora Globo |
Olhai os Lírios do Campo is a 1938 novel by Érico Veríssimo set in Porto Alegre, Brazil, tracing the life of a central character whose moral crises reflect wider social tensions in Brazil and in the Spanish and European contexts of the interwar period. The work engages with contemporary debates about Catholic Church, liberalism, socialism, and personal conscience while drawing on literary currents from modernism, realism, and existentialism. It has been studied alongside major Latin American narratives and compared with works by international contemporaries.
Érico Veríssimo wrote the novel during a period when Getúlio Vargas's Estado Novo and the political transformation of Brazilian Revolution of 1930 reshaped national life, and the author corresponded with intellectuals in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Lisbon. Influences include European travelers and writers such as Thomas Mann, Graham Greene, Franz Kafka, Miguel de Unamuno, and Gustave Flaubert, as well as Brazilian contemporaries like Jorge Amado, Mário de Andrade, Raul Pompéia, and Machado de Assis. The novel's provenance intersects with cultural institutions including Academia Brasileira de Letras, publishing houses such as Editora Globo and Livraria José Olympio, and periodicals like Revista do Brasil and Correio do Povo. Veríssimo's career trajectory involved diplomatic contacts with figures linked to Universidade de Porto Alegre and exchanges with editors in Buenos Aires, Madrid, Paris, and New York City.
The plot follows the protagonist's moral awakening amid family obligations, professional ambition, and spiritual questioning in an urban milieu influenced by Catholicism, secular intellectual networks, and labor movements. Key episodes involve interactions with clergy from Catholic Church, debates with activists associated with Brazilian Communist Party, entanglements with members of the middle class in Porto Alegre salons, and moments that evoke settings like Catedral Metropolitana de Porto Alegre and local hospitals linked to Associação Médica Brasileira. Themes include conscience versus compromise, the tension between faith and modernity, and individual responsibility in the face of social injustice—topics resonant with thinkers such as Søren Kierkegaard, Jean-Paul Sartre, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. The novel uses character types comparable to figures from Realist novel traditions and incorporates narrative techniques related to writers like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf, while engaging political questions discussed at forums such as the League of Nations and in debates around the Spanish Civil War.
First published by Editora Globo in 1938, the novel received attention from Brazilian critics in outlets like Jornal do Brasil, O Estado de S. Paulo, and Gazeta do Sul, and provoked commentary from intellectuals associated with Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul. International reviews appeared in translation discussions among publishers in Argentina, Portugal, France, United Kingdom, and the United States. Reactions ranged from praise by supporters of literary modernity to skepticism from conservative reviewers linked to Ação Integralista Brasileira and clerical audiences connected to the Vatican. Academic analyses later situated the book within curricula at institutions such as Harvard University, University of Oxford, Universidad de Buenos Aires, and Universidade de Coimbra, and it has been the subject of dissertations presented at Universidade de Salamanca and Universidade de São Paulo.
The novel inspired stage adaptations performed at venues like Teatro Municipal (Porto Alegre), Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, and smaller cultural centers affiliated with Sesc and university theater groups at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Radio dramatizations aired on networks such as Radio Gaúcha and were produced by dramatists influenced by the theatrical traditions of Bertolt Brecht and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's era broadcasting. Film and television adaptations were discussed by producers linked to studios in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo; audiovisual projects involved directors trained at institutions like Escola de Cinema Darcy Ribeiro and technicians from Cinemateca Brasileira. International theater companies in Lisbon and Buenos Aires staged translations, and performances at festivals such as Bienal de Teatro do Mercosul and Festival de Cinema de Gramado brought renewed attention. Prominent actors associated with productions include performers who also worked with Cinema Novo figures and with television stations like TV Globo.
The novel has influenced Brazilian literature, pedagogy, and public discourse, cited alongside works by Clarice Lispector, Jorge Amado, Lima Barreto, and Graciliano Ramos. It contributed to debates in forums such as Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil and inspired commentary by public intellectuals like Raymundo Faoro, Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, Celso Furtado, and Roberto DaMatta. Scholarly work connects the novel to movements in Latin American letters represented at conferences hosted by CLACSO and to comparative studies involving Gabriel García Márquez, Julio Cortázar, Pablo Neruda, and Mario Vargas Llosa. It remains in print via Brazilian publishers and is taught in secondary schools overseen by state secretariats in Rio Grande do Sul and used in university syllabi at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and Universidade Estadual de Campinas. The work's themes continue to resonate in discussions at cultural institutions like Museu Julio de Castilhos, Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa, and literary festivals including FLIP and Bienal do Livro de São Paulo.
Category:Brazilian novels Category:1938 novels