''Sea of Death'' ( Portuguese: ''Mar Morto'') is a Brazilian

Modernist novel Literary modernism, or modernist literature, originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterized by a self-conscious break with traditional ways of writing, in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented ...

written by Jorge Amado. Amado wrote the novel in response to his first arrest for "being a communist". The novel follows the lives of poor sailors around Bahia, and their relationship with the Afro-Brazilian religion

Candomblé Candomblé () is an African diasporic religion that developed in Brazil during the 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between several of the traditional religions of West Africa, especially that of the Yoruba, and the Roman ...

, especially the sea goddess Iemanjá. The novel's style and themes include many traits that characterize Amado's later work.

Development and style

''Sea of Death'' was written in 1936, the year that Jorge Amado was jailed for the first time, at the age of twenty-four, on charges of being a communist. He was arrested in Rio de Janeiro and spent two months in prison. On his release, he was invited by a British publisher, José Olympio, to produce a new novel. ''Sea of Death'' was begun in

Salvador, Bahia Salvador (English: ''Savior'') is a Brazilian municipality and capital city of the state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognized throughout the country and internationally for its cuisine ...

, and completed in Rio de Janeiro. The novel won the

Graça Aranha José Pereira da Graça Aranha (June 21, 1868 – January 26, 1931) was a Brazilian writer and diplomat, considered to be a forerunner of the Modernism in Brazil. He was also one of the organizers of the Brazilian Modern Art Week of 1922. He fo ...

award from the Brazilian Academy of Letters in the same year. ''Sea of Death'' was Jorge Amado’s fifth novel and the fifth of six novels he called his "Bahian Novels". He described ''Sea of Death'' as a "new vision of the life of the sailors of small sailing vessels on the waterfront of the state capital and the bay". It is one of his most poetically charged books. His translator, Gregory Rabassa, describes it as "sentimental, 'touching' and poetic". According to the critic Fábio Lucas, the novel’s poetic prose was to become a hallmark of the author’s work.

Plot

''Sea of Death'' tells stories of the dockside of Salvador, Bahia. The lives of the sailors of

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

s in the bay from which Bahia gets its name are centred on the mythology surrounding the goddess Iemanjá, the "Queen of the Ocean" or the "Mother of Waters", are central to this novel, which portrays their daily struggle for survival. The novel features a variety of characters whose lives unfold around the story of two lovers, Guma and Lívia. They include the black Rufino and his mulatto lover Esmeralda; Francisco, Guma’s uncle, who mends nets; and the foul-mouthed Rosa Palmeirão.

References

1936 novels Novels by Jorge Amado Brazilian novels Portuguese-language novels Novels set in Bahia Modernist novels {{1930s-novel-stub