Caio Fernando Loureiro de Abreu (September 12, 1948 – February 25, 1996), best known as Caio Fernando Abreu, was one of the most influential and original Brazilian writers of the 1970s and 1980s. Caio F., as he habitually signed his letters, was born in Santiago do Boqueirão in the state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

in 1948, and died in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

in 1996. Abreu studied at the

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul ( pt, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, UFRGS) is a Brazilian public federal research university based in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. UFRGS is among the largest and highest-rated univers ...

but abandoned academia before graduating to write for pop culture magazines such as ''Revista Nova'', ''Revista Manchete'', ''Revista Veja'' and ''Revista Pop''. He was a prolific

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and literary

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

. He wrote short stories, novels, chronicles or crônicas, drama, and he also maintained throughout his life an extensive correspondence with other writers and artists, family and friends. In 1968 Abreu was put on the wanted list by the DOPS or the ''Departamento de Ordem Política e Social'', a repressive branch of the Brazilian government that operated during years when the repressive military dictatorship was in power, but found refuge at the country estate of Brazilian writer

Hilda Hilst Hilda Hilst (April 21, 1930 – February 4, 2004) was a Brazilian poet, novelist, and playwright. She is lauded as one of the most important Portuguese-language authors of the twentieth century. Her work touches on the themes of mysticism, insanit ...

, located near the city of

Campinas Campinas (, ''Plains'' or ''Meadows'') is a Brazilian municipality in São Paulo State, part of the country's Southeast Region. According to the 2020 estimate, the city's population is 1,213,792, making it the fourteenth most populous Brazilian ...

, in state of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

. During the early '70s he spent one year in self-exile in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, spending time in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. In 1983 he relocated from his native

, the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, to the city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

; and in 1985 he moved to the city of

. Abreu then return again to France in 1994 where he found out that he was

HIV positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...

. That same year he returned home to Porto Alegre permanently to live with his parents. He enjoyed

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

before dying there two years later.

Abreu's identities

Caio Fernando Abreu literature is a testimony of the culture, society and politics of Brazil in the 1970s and 1980s. As a journalist, he was an active cultural actor, writing reviews and chronicles for a number of Brazilian popular magazines. As a fictional writer, Abreu introduced new identities into the realm of Brazilian literature. His narratives come from the subjectivity of a bisexual man in his mid-forties who has AIDS. In ''Os dragões não conhecem o paraíso'' (Dragons), his most famous book of short stories, the majority of characters are either gay or they act as if they are. Examples of such identities are drag queens, gay teenagers, bisexual men, and other individuals whose sexualities and gender identities reside in the periphery of society. A number of literary critics have noted Abreu’s attempt to create a Brazilian queer identity using the figures of monsters or dragons. The characters of books such as ''Os dragões não conhecem o paraíso'' (1988), ''Onde andará Dulce Vega'' (1990) and ''Morangos mofados'' (1982) live and function in the periphery of society, they are in many ways equivalent to queer characters in North American literary traditions. Brazilian cultural identity in Abreu's writings is anything but a fixed, essential entity, pure from foreign contamination. Abreu is a camp writer since his works are full of examples of queer sensibility, and of multiple appropriations of mainstream heterosexual society into queer narratives. His literature is inspired by writers like

Clarice Lispector Clarice Lispector (born Chaya Pinkhasivna Lispector ( uk, Хая Пінкасівна Ліспектор); December 10, 1920December 9, 1977) was a Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist and short story writer. Her innovative, idiosyncratic works exp ...

and

Julio Cortázar Julio Florencio Cortázar (26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984; ) was an Argentine, nationalized French novelist, short story writer, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenced an ent ...

but also by Brazilian Popular Music MPB, Afro Brazilian music,

Hollywood films The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...

, and

North American literature The culture of North America refers to the arts and other manifestations of human activities and achievements from the continent of North America. Cultures of North America reflect not only that of the continent's indigenous peoples but those cult ...

and music. Abreu’s Brazil is urban, queer, corrupt, isolated, but his main concern is the human existence in an urban setting. Abreu’s style of confessional literature captures his personal fears, hopes, sentiments and desires but, at the same time, his voice is both individual and collective. Abreu also introduced the topic of AIDS into Brazilian literature. The discourse of AIDS was already present in Abreu’s writing from the beginning of the epidemic in the 1980s. He is, along with Cazuza and

Renato Russo Renato Russo (born Renato Manfredini, Jr., March 27, 1960 – October 11, 1996) was a Brazilian singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the alternative rock band Legião Urbana. A Brazilian film depicting his life and career was rele ...

, one of the most recognized Brazilian artists to have died of AIDS.

Abreu's works

In his first romance novel, ''White Limit'' (1970) already had the markings of his literary trajectory: the anguish in the face of duty in the certain death at the end of his journey. According to his literary perspective, a life should be continually searched for.

Abreu's work in film

Two of Abreu's short stories has been made into film: ''Aqueles Dois'' was made into a 1983 feature film directed by Sergio Amon and ''Sargento Garcia'' was made into a 2000 short film directed by Tutti Gregianin. Over the years, "Aqueles Dois" has enjoyed several theatre adaptations. His novel ''Onde Andará Dulce Veiga'' was also made into a feature film, released in Brazil in 2007 and directed by Abreu's friend

Guilherme de Almeida Prado Guilherme de Almeida Prado (Ribeirão Preto, November 6, 1954) is a Brazilian film director. Graduated in civil engineering while at the same time doing movies. He also served as assistant director of erotic films. He founded the production com ...

. Abreu also wrote the screenplay for Sergio Bianchi's 1988 feature ''Romance''.

Tribute

On 12 September 2018, to commemorate what would have been his 70th birthday, Google released a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

celebrating him.

Bibliography

*''Inventário do irremediável nventory of hopelessness', Brazil (1970, 1995). *''Limite branco hite limit', Brazil (1971, 1984, 1992). *''O ovo apunhalado tabbed egg', Brazil (1975, 1984, 1992). *''Pedras de Calcutá tones from Calcutá', Brazil (1977, 1995). *''Morangos mofados'', Brazil (1982, 1995, 2005),
Moldy Strawberries
', translated by Bruna Dantas Lobato, USA, UK (2022). *''Triângulo das águas riangle of waters', Brazil,

Prêmio Jabuti The Prêmio Jabuti (the "Tortoise Prize") is the most traditional literary award in Brazil, given by the Brazilian Book Chamber (CBL). It was conceived by Edgard Cavalheiro in 1959 when he presided over the CBL, with the interest of rewarding autho ...

- 1983 (1983, 1993). *''As frangas ullets', Brazil (1988). *''Os dragões não conhecem o paraíso ragons don't know paradise', Brazil,

- 1988 (1988). *''A maldição do Vale Negro urse of black valley', Brazil, ''Molière Price'' by

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global air ...

- 1988 (1988). *''Onde andará Dulce Veiga?'', Brazil (1990), ''Whatever happened to Dulce Veiga?- A B novel'',''University of Texas Press, 2001. Translated by Adria Frizzi. http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/books/abrwha.html'' translated by Adria Frizzi, USA (2001). *''Bien loin de Marienbad uite distant from Marienbad', France (1994). *''Ovelhas negras lack sheep', Brazil,

- 1995 (1995). *''Mel & girassóis oney & Sunflowers', Brazil (1996). *''Teatro completo omplete theatre', Brazil (1997). *''Cartas'' '' etters' (Caio Fernando Abreu & Ítalo Moriconi), Brazil (2002). ;Theater *''O homem e a mancha an and the stain' *''Zona contaminada ontaminated zone' ;Translation *''A arte da guerra'' by

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu ( ; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of ''The ...

(Caio Fernando Abreu & Miriam Paglia), (1995). *''Assim vivemos agora'' by

Susan Sontag Susan Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, philosopher, and political activist. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on 'Camp'", in 1964. Her ...

(Caio Fernando Abreu), (1995). *''A Balada do Café Triste'' by

Carson McCullers Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, ''The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter'' (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits ...

), (1991).

Abreu's identities

Abreu's works

Abreu's work in film

Tribute

Bibliography

See also

References

External links