João Cabral de Melo Neto (January 6, 1920 – October 9, 1999) was a Brazilian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

, and one of the most influential writers in late Brazilian

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

. He was awarded the 1990

Camões Prize The Camões Prize (, ), named after Luís de Camões, is the most prestigious prize for literature in the Portuguese language. The prize was established in 1989 and is supported by the governments of Brazil and Portugal. It is awarded annually to ...

and the 1992

Neustadt International Prize for Literature The Neustadt International Prize for Literature is a biennial award for literature sponsored by the University of Oklahoma and its international literary publication, ''World Literature Today''. It is considered one of the more prestigious int ...

, the only Brazilian poet to receive such award to date. He was considered until his death a perennial competitor for the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

. Melo Neto's works are noted for the rigorous, yet inventive attention they pay to the formal aspects of poetry. He derives his characteristic sound from a traditional verse of five or seven syllables (called ‘’redondilha’’) and from the constant use of oblique rhymes. His style ranges from the

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

tendency which marked his early poetry to the use of regional elements of his native northeastern Brazil. In many works, including the famed

auto Auto may refer to: Vehicles * An automobile, or car * An autonomous car, a self-driving car * An auto rickshaw Mechanisms * Short for automatic * An automaton * An automatic transmission Media * Auto (art), a form of Portuguese dramatic play * ...

'' Morte e Vida Severina'', Melo Neto's addresses the life of those affected by the poverty and inequality in

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

Life and career

Melo Neto was born in

Recife Recife ( , ) is the Federative units of Brazil, state capital of Pernambuco, Brazil, on the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of South America. It is the largest urban area within both the North Region, Brazil, North and the Northeast R ...

, and spent most of his youth in his family's sugar-cane mills in the interior of the state. He was a cousin of distinguished poet

Manuel Bandeira Manuel Carneiro de Sousa Bandeira Filho (April 19, 1886 – October 13, 1968) was a Brazilian poet, literary critic, and translator, who wrote over 20 books of poetry and prose. Life and career Bandeira was born in Recife, Pernambuco. In 1904 ...

and sociologist

Gilberto Freyre Gilberto de Mello Freyre (March 15, 1900 – July 18, 1987) was a Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian, writer, painter, journalist and congressman born in Recife. Considered one of the most important sociologists of the 20th cen ...

. In 1940, his family moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. Two years later, Melo Neto published his first book of poems, ''Pedra do Sono'', at his own expense, with a circulation of 340 copies. In 1945, he applied to the post of diplomat, a position he would hold for most of his life. The following year, he married Stella Maria Barbosa de Oliveira, with whom he had five children. After passing through several different countries, he became

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

of Brazil in

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

in 1984, only returning to Rio de Janeiro three years later. He worked for many years in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and his experiences in

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

would leave palpable influences in his poetry. In 1956, Melo Neto published his most famous work, '' Morte e Vida Severina'', and, in 1968, he was elected to the 37th chair of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. In 1986, he married Marly de Oliveira and, two years later, he retired, resigning from his office as

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

. Melo Neto died in 1999, in Rio de Janeiro. In a career spanning more than fifty years, Melo Neto published 18 books of poetry and two plays.

Poetry

The image of an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

designing a

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

, an epithet Melo Neto himself adopted, is often used to describe his poetry. From the start, his poetry was extraordinarily rich in imagery. Commenting ''Pedra do Sono'', his first book, Antonio Candido, who noted his debt to

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

and

surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

, observed how his poems were composed from the accumulation of concrete and sensory images, using words in an almost pictorial manner. Quickly, however, he proved highly attentive to the social reality of his state. In ''O cão sem plumas'' (“A Dog without Feathers”)’, his first long poem, dated from 1950, he portrayed the lives of the destitute classes, who depended on the Capibaribe River, and described the toiling of the sugar-cane mill. Three years later, in ''O Rio'' (“The River”) he assumed the voice of the river, narrating in first-person its course and the villages and landscapes it crossed. Clarifying his debts to Melo Neto,

Augusto de Campos Augusto de Campos (born 14 February 1931) is a Brazilian writer who (with his brother Haroldo de Campos) was a founder of the Concrete poetry movement in Brazil. He is also a translator, music critic and visual artist. Work In 1952 he founded ...

has said: “One might say that he has no antecedents in Brazilian poetry, but his work has consequences. It is Concrete poetry that will sustain, continue, expand and broaden this poetic language that is not sentimental, but objective, a poetry of concretude, a critical poetry, as João's poetry is.”"Pode-se dizer que ele não tem antecedentes na poesia brasileira, a obra dele tem conseqüentes. Porque é a poesia concreta que vai manter, continuar, expandir e levar para outros caminhos essa linhagem de uma poesia não sentimental, de uma poesia objetiva, uma poesia de concretude, uma poesia crítica, como é a poesia de João." Quoted in:

Works

Poetry

* 1942: Pedra do Sono (''Slumber Stone'') * 1943: Os Três Mal-Amados (''The Three Unloved'') * 1945: O Engenheiro (''The Engineer'') * 1947: Psicologia da Composição com a Fábula de Anfion e Antiode (''Psychology of Composition with the Fable of Amphion and Anti-Ode'') * 1950: O Cão sem Plumas (''The Dog without Feathers'') * 1953: O Rio ou Relação da Viagem que Faz o Capibaribe de Sua Nascente à Cidade do Recife (''The River or On the Course of the Capibaribe River from Its Source to the City of Recife'') * 1960: Dois Parlamentos (''Two Parliaments'') * 1960: Quaderna * 1966: A Educação pela Pedra (''Education by the Stone'') * 1975: Museu de Tudo (''Museum of Everything'') * 1980: A Escola das Facas (''The School of the Knives'') * 1984: Auto do Frade (''The Friar's Way'') * 1985: Agrestes * 1987: Crime na Calle Relator (''Crime in Relator Street'') * 1990: Primeiros Poemas (''First Poems'') * 1990: Sevilha Andando (''Walking around Seville'')

Play

* 1955: Morte e Vida Severina (translated in part by Elizabeth Bishop as ''Life and Death of a Severino'')

References

External links

* ttp://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9018463/Joao-Cabral-de-Melo-Neto Encyclopædia Britannica Joao Cabral de Melo Neto {{DEFAULTSORT:Neto, Joao Cabral De Melo 1920 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Brazilian poets Brazilian male poets Brazilian diplomats Brazilian expatriates in Spain Camões Prize winners Members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters 20th-century Brazilian male writers Brazilian expatriates in Portugal

Life and career

Poetry

Works

Poetry

Play

Further reading

References

External links