Literature is Universal
Sara Costa E Silva Santana
Last year, a TikTok from Courtney Henning Novak went viral as she shared with the internet about her Read Around the World series, where she would read books from different countries in alphabetical order. For the letter “B”, she chose Brazil and read ‘Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas’ (‘The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas’ in English) by Machado de Assis. She was absolutely mesmerized by the book and even shared on her blog that the novel knocked out Pride and Prejudice as her number one favorite book. A little while after Novak’s video, the book became a best-seller in Amazon’s Caribbean & Latin American Literature category. The novel has a 4.26 rating on Goodreads and over 2,000 reviews, praising the author’s satirical and humorous tone while still contextualizing slavery and the elite society of Brazil during the 19th century. The sudden success of the book brought forward a question that many fans have and that many Brazilians have debated about: why is Machado de Assis not as acclaimed in literature as Shakespeare is? There are two main reasons for that (both of which go hand-in-hand): first, the novel was not primarily published in the English language; second, the author is not American or British.
English is widely spoken throughout the globe as it is the main language used to settle international affairs and facilitate communication between countries. Therefore, the novels that reach a wider audience or have a greater impact, are the ones published in English or translated into the language. In order for outside works to be translated, the book must be considered relevant enough for the author to have that opportunity. Part of the reason behind that is due to the fact that the strongholds of the most influential publishing houses in the world are located in the United States or in the UK—like Simon & Schuster, Bloomsbury Publishing, and Penguin Random House to name a few. They control what hits the shelves. This global influence can be dated back to when the U.S. surged as an economic power after WWII and British Imperialism: both factors contributed to the Anglophone dominant world that we live in today. On one hand, it is great that the international landscape has a common language so that people from different nations can communicate with each other—but that exchange is inherently unequal. Due to English being the world’s lingua franca, most of the information available to the world is in English which perpetuates the idea that it is the language of knowledge, further marginalizing other languages. Language is intrinsically tied to culture, which is then tied to the people who speak it—and so countless works of art will never get the recognition it deserves because the author does not write or speak in English. From the moment that I was fluent in English, I knew that I could never lose it. If I ever wanted for my work and my voice to reach—and matter—to people, I would have to be proficient in speaking, reading and writing in my second language.
So, what does the Anglophone literary canon miss out on? Still using Machado de Assis’ novel as an example, ¹the narrator introduces his voice in the dedication of the book, already setting up for the reader that he is dead and will be recounting his life experiences, then proceeds to establish himself as a “corpse-author” (“defunto autor”) in the first chapter. This book pioneered realism in Brazil, yet the narrator is speaking from the afterlife and has conversations with the reader. His point of view is still objective—which is a characteristic of realism—and he argues that being deceased allows for him to speak frankly.² It is a paradox of sorts. All the while, the work criticizes the mediocrity and hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie class as well as portrays the grim reality of slavery back then. Both aspects mirror the political and economic changes in Brazil during the late 19th century. From a craft and thematic standpoint, ‘Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas’ is a piece of literature that can benefit any enthusiast of this art medium, but is overshadowed by its native English-speaking counterparts. An Anglophone centered literary scene neglects enriching and diverse voices from authors of different backgrounds, which is counterproductive.
Literature exists to teach society about itself. It takes reality and places it in a separate setting to present a new perspective to the reader that they might not have been aware of before. Literature was meant to be multifaceted and celebrate identity—not erase it and cement a homogeneous culture. It is a universal art form that should not be represented only by white male native English speakers.
(If you would like to check out more of Brazilian literature, I would recommend the YA series ‘Os Karas’ by Pedro Bandeira and the memoir ‘Quarto de Despejo’ by Carolina Maria de Jesus).
¹ “Ao verme que primeiro roeu as frias carnes do meu cadáver dedico como saudosa lembrança estas memórias póstumas.” in English: “To the worm that first gnawed at the cold flesh of my cadaver I dedicate as a fond remembrance these posthumous memoirs.”
² “Talvez espante ao leitor a franqueza com que lhe exponho e realço a minha mediocridade, advirta que a franqueza é a primeira qualidade de um defunto.”