Abstract

LAVERDE OSPINA, Alfredo. Essay and Literary Criticism: The Discursive Space of the "Intellectual in Action". José Lins do Rego. Lit. teor. hist. crit. [online]. 2019, vol.21, n.2, pp.131-171. ISSN 0123-5931.  https://doi.org/10.15446/lthc.v21n2.78662.

The objective of the article is to examine the structural and argumentative aspects of the essays written by the Brazilian author and critic, in the political-cultural context of the 1940s and 50s in Brazil. By elucidating the relevant aspects of this discursive typology, the article shows how literary criticism became a space for the generation of public opinion. It argues in favor of recovering literary criticism as a space for political participation, taking into account current conditions and the crisis of both public opinion and literary criticism, with respect to the latter's shift toward greater specialization and marginalization. Overall, the article proposes the construction of a literary criticism that participates in the generation of what is known as discursive public opinion, which is ideal in any democracy.

Keywords : criticism; essay; public opinion; aesthetics.

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