Jorge Amadou bibliography. Jorge Amadou: “Literary Pele

Jorge Leal Amado di Faria(port. Jorge Leal Amado de Faria; 1912–2001) - Brazilian writer, public and political figure, academician of the Academy of Arts and Letters (since 1961). Jorge Amado gained fame as a professional writer who lived solely on income from the publication of his works; in terms of number of circulations it is second only to Paulo Coelho(port. Paulo Coelho), famous Brazilian poet and prose writer.

Childhood

Jorge Amado, son of a landowner Joao Amado de Faria(port. Juan Amado de Faria) and Eulalia Leal(port. Eulalia Leal), born on August 10, 1912 in the hacienda "Aurisidia" in (port. Bahia). Although, the writer’s biographers disagree about the exact place of birth. It is known for certain that his father owned a cocoa plantation south of Ileusa(port. Ilheus). A year after the birth of their first child, due to a smallpox epidemic, the family moved to the city of Ilheus, where Jorge spent her childhood.

Later J. Amadou recalled his early years as follows: “The years of childhood and adolescence spent in Bahia - on the streets, in the port, on the porches of hundred-year-old churches, in markets, at holiday fairs, at capoeira competitions ...“This is my best university.”

Jorge was the eldest son in the family, he had 3 more younger brothers: Jofre (port. Jofre; born 1914), Joelson (port. Joelson; born 1918) and James (port. James; born 1921) . Jofre died of influenza in 1917, Joelson later became a doctor, and James became a journalist.

Years of study

Jorge was taught to read and write by her mother Eulalia from old newspapers. Since 1918, the boy began to attend school in Ilheus. At the age of 11 he was sent to a Salvadoran religious college Antonio Vieira(port. Colégio Religioso Antoniu Vieira), where the future writer became addicted to literature. One day, in 1924, an obstinate teenager ran away from home and traveled along the roads of Bahia for 2 months until his father caught him.

The young man completed his secondary education at the gymnasium of the city of Ipiranga (port. Ipiranga), where he enthusiastically published the newspaper “A Pátria” (port. “Fatherland”).

The future writer received his higher education at the University, Faculty of Law, where he first came into contact with the communist movement and met prominent communist figures.

Beginning of a literary career

At the age of 14, Jorge got a job as a reporter in the crime department of the newspaper Diário da Bahia, and soon began publishing in the newspaper O imparcial (Impartial).

By 1928, together with friends, Amadou founded the literary association of writers and poets of the state of Bahia “ Rebel Academy"(port. "Academia dos Rebeldes"). The "Academy", based on classical literature, focused on modernism, realism and social movement. At the same time, the work of Jorge himself combined Afro-Brazilian traditions, forming an idea of ​​Brazil as a nation with a multinational culture.

In 1932, Amado became a member of the Brazilian Communist Party. Participation in the “Movement of the 1930s” had a great influence on his early work, when the writer turned to the problems of equality in society.

After graduating from the University (1935), Jorge Amado, instead of the wealthy life of a lawyer, chose the path of a public figure and writer. His literary debut took place in 1930 with the release of the short story “ Lenita"("Lenita"), co-authored with Diaz da Costa(port. Dias da Costa) and Edison Carneiro(port. Edison Carneiro). In 1931, the first independent novel by J. Amadou “ Carnival Country"(port. "O pais do carnaval"), where he depicted the bohemia of the city in a sarcastic form.

Social and political activities

Period 1930-1945 known in Brazil as " Era of Vargas"(port. Era Vargas) - the country was ruled by a dictator. In 1936, Jorge Amado was arrested for political activities and open statements in the press against the dictatorial regime. Then, the writer recalled, “terror reigned everywhere, the process of eliminating democracy began in Brazil, Nazism suppressed freedom, human rights were trampled upon.” After leaving prison, Jorge Amado went on a long voyage on a coaster along the Pacific coast; he traveled through Brazil, Latin America and the USA, the result of his long journey was the novel “ Captains of the Sand"(1937).

After returning to his homeland, the disgraced writer was arrested again, and about 2 thousand copies of his books were burned by the military police.

After his release, in 1938 the writer moved to live in (Port. São Paulo).

During these difficult times, Amadou wandered around looking for work, but continued to write. In 1941, he was again forced to leave the country, this time leaving for. By 1942, amid the growing anti-fascist movement, the Vargas government broke off diplomatic relations with the fascist powers, declaring war on Germany and Italy. Having learned about this, J. Amadou returned from emigration, but upon arrival he was immediately taken into custody. The authorities sent the writer to Bahia, placing him under house arrest. He was forbidden to stay in large cities and publish his works. But the editor of the anti-fascist newspaper Imparcial invited Jorge to cooperate - he was tasked with commenting on reports of events on the fronts of World War II.

After the legalization of the Communist Party, in December 1945 the writer was elected to the National Congress as a deputy of the Communist Party from São Paulo; in addition, he took the post of vice-president of the Writers' Association. Amadou was involved in several bills aimed at protecting national culture. It was during this period that he managed to defend the amendment on freedom of conscience and religion, including legalizing Candomblé cult(Afro-Christian cult in Brazil - editor's note).

In 1948, Brazilian reactionaries, supported by the United States, managed to bring General Euric Dutro(port. Eurico Gaspar Dutra), a supporter of Hitler. The activities of the PBC were again banned, and Jorge and his wife Zelia left Brazil and went to Paris. In France, J. Amadou met and became friends with Picasso (Spanish Pablo Ruiz Picasso; Spanish painter) and Sartre (French Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre; French philosopher, writer, playwright), met with the poet Paul Éluard ). The writer traveled a lot, he traveled to a number of countries in Western and Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, and met with many prominent world cultural figures.

Amadou visited the USSR several times (1948-1952), from 1951 to 1952. lived in Prague (Czechoslovakia). The Brazilian writer published in all countries of the “socialist camp”.

Upon returning to his homeland in 1952, he devoted himself to literary creativity, completely devoting himself to the praise of his native Bahia.

In 1956, the writer left the ranks of the Communist Party of Brazil; in 1967 he abandoned his candidacy for the Nobel Prize.

Literary works of Jorge Amado

In the initial period of the author’s work, social themes predominated. Early works include novels: “ Carnival Country"(port. "O país do carnaval"; 1932), " Cocoa"(port. "Cacau"; 1933), " Sweat"(port. "Suor"; 1934). In these works, the author describes the struggle of workers for their rights. Actually, J. Amadou gained fame as a writer after the publication of the novels “Cocoa” and “Sweat,” which describe the struggle for survival, heroism, personal dramas and the everyday work of ordinary workers in the cocoa region. It is with “Cocoa” that the “Bahian cycle” of novels about life on plantations begins.

The author shows interest in the life of the black population, Afro-Brazilian traditions and the difficult legacy of slavery in a cycle of 3 novels about Bahia: “ Jubiaba"(port. "Jubiabá"; 1935), " Dead Sea"(port. "Mar morto"; 1936) and " Captains of the Sand"(port. "Capitães da areia"; 1937). In these works, the writer forms an idea of ​​Brazil as a nation with a multinational culture and traditions. He said: “We, the Bahians, are a mixture of Angolans and Portuguese, we have equal parts of both..." Indicative in this regard is the novel “Zhubiaba”, whose hero, a young homeless beggar, first becomes the leader of a gang of thieves, and then, having gone through the school of class struggle, becomes a progressive trade union leader and an exemplary family man. It is noteworthy that for the first time in Brazilian literature, the main character in this novel is a black man.

Based on the world-famous novel “Captains of the Sand,” the life of the “outcast” street children of the land of Bahia is shown, who are trying to find their place in a cruel reality. The novel is written in surprisingly colorful, lyrical language.

The works of the cycle about the state of Bahia trace the maturation of the “realistic method” in Amado’s work. In 1959, the novel “The Dead Sea” was awarded a prize Graça Aranha(port. Prêmio Graça Aranha) Brazilian Literary Academy.

In 1942 the book “ Knight of Hope"(port. "O Cavaleiro da Esperança") - biography Luis Carlos Prestes(port. Luís Carlos Prestes), an activist of the Brazilian communist movement, who was in prison at that moment.

In exile, Amadou began work on an epic series of novels about the “land of cocoa”: “ Endless Lands"(port. "Terras do sem-fim"; 1943), " Sao Jorge dos Ilheus"(port. "Sao Jorge dos Ilheus"; 1944), " Red shoots"(port. "Seara vermelha"; 1946).

In the novel “Endless Lands” you can find autobiographical memories relating to the adolescent period of the writer’s life. The epigraph to this work was the words from a folk song: “I will tell you a story - a story that is terrifying..." Describing the rivalry between landowners seizing the best land for plantations in the state, Amadou recalled how one day hired killers were sent to his father. Saving little Jorge, he, wounded, miraculously remained alive. And in those hard years, my mother went to bed with a loaded gun at the head of the bed.

Returning to Brazil, the writer published pro-communist books " world of peace"(port. "O mundo da paz"; 1950) and " Freedom Underground"(port. "Os subterraneos da liberdade"; 1952).

Gradually, Amado’s work evolves from works of proletarian themes, based on a fusion of melodrama, everyday life and sociality, to folklorism, where the most important element of the plot and compositional structure are Afro-Brazilian cults and traditions, first introduced in this capacity into Brazilian literature.

Since the late 1950s. the writer began to introduce humor, elements of fantasy and sensationalism into his works (from the Latin “sensus” - perception, feeling, sensation - editor's note). Amadou, in whose works reality and mysticism are intricately intertwined, has taken a worthy place among the representatives of magical realism. These fantasy elements remained forever in Amadou’s work, despite the fact that in the works of the later period the writer’s creative interest again shifted to political themes.

Since 1958, Amadou’s novels again take the reader to the colorful sunny Bahia: “ Gabriela, cloves and cinnamon"(port. "Gabriela, cravo e canela"; 1958), " Old sailors"(port. "Os velhos marinheiros"; 1961), " Shepherds of the night"(port. "Os pastores da noite"; 1964), " Dona Flor and her two husbands"(port. "Dona Flor e seus dois maridos"; 1966), " Miracle Shop"("Tenda dos milagres"; 1969), " Teresa Batista, tired of fighting"(port. "Teresa Batista cansada de guerra"; 1972), " Big trap"(port. "Tocaia grande"; 1984), etc. The writer's works are characterized by an interest in folk traditions and magical rituals, a love of life with all its difficulties and joys. In 1959, the novel “Gabriela, Cloves and Cinnamon” was awarded the largest literary prize in Brazil, the Jabuti Prize (port. Prêmio Jabuti).

Amado has always been interested in the rituals of Candomblé, an Afro-Brazilian religion based on the worship of the highest spiritual beings, the Orishas (Port. Orixá), emanations of the one creator god Oludumare. The result of this interest was the short story “ The extraordinary death of Kinkas-Gin-Water"(port. "A Morte e a Morte de Quincas Berro Dágua"; 1959), which many Brazilian critics consider the writer's literary masterpiece.

Leaving socialist realism for magic

During his formative years, the writer firmly believed in revolution, believed that “power of the people and for the people” was possible.

After a trip to the Soviet Union, deeply impressed by what he saw there, Amadou created a bestseller called “ world of peace"(port. "O mundo da paz"; 1950): this book, despite the dissatisfaction of the authorities, went through 5 editions in a short period of time in Brazil alone.

However, in the late 1950s the writer's political views changed dramatically. Having visited many socialist countries, he gained insight into the “nature of socialism.” J. Amadou continued to write about the common man - his contemporary. Only now his books have a new sound: the author has “stepped over” from socialist realism to magical realism. From his last emigration, Amadou returned to his homeland in 1956. From that moment on, a new period began in his life, marked by an extraordinary creative upsurge. The heroes of the books of that period brought extraordinary fame to their creator, and the writer’s army of admirers grew day by day.

Many literary critics give Amadou the palm in creating this form, when reality and myth are harmoniously intertwined in the seemingly ordinary life of an ordinary person.

Women's theme

Since the 60s In the 20th century, the writer entered a period of creativity when women became the main characters of his works. Novels from this “feminine period” include Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands (1966), The Miracle Shop (1969) and Teresa Batista, Tired of War (1972). The heroines in these works are represented as strong personalities, capable of brave deeds, but at the same time mentally delicate and sensual.

Latest works by Jorge Amadou

At the end of the 1990s. Amadou was working on his memoirs " Coastal sailing"(port. "Navegação de Cabotágem"; 1992), the publication of which was scheduled for the 80th anniversary of the writer. At the same time, the writer was working on the novel “ Red Boris"(port. "Bóris, o vermelho"), he did not have time to finish this work. In 1992, an Italian company invited Amadou to write a work for the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, which resulted in the novel “ Discovery of America by the Turks"(port. "A Descoberta da América pelos Turcos"; 1994). Daughter Paloma and her husband (film director Pedro Costa) helped proofread and type the book, because The writer’s vision has already deteriorated catastrophically.

Departure

In recent years the writer has been seriously ill; According to his wife, he was very worried that he could not work fully. Diabetes robbed him of his vitality and vision. Jorge died in Salvador of a heart attack on August 6, 2001, four days short of his 89th birthday. According to her husband’s will, Zelia scattered his ashes among the roots of a large mango tree (“to help this tree grow”), standing near the house near the bench where the couple loved to sit together.

In his penultimate book, Jorge Amado summed up his existence in this world: “...I, thank God, never felt like...an outstanding person. I'm just a writer... But isn't that enough? I have always been and remain a resident of my poor state of Bahia..."

Family life

In December 1933, Jorge Amado married Matilda Garcia Rose(port. Matilde Garcia Rosa; 1933-1941). In 1935, a daughter was born into the family Leela(port. Leela), who died at the age of 14 years (1949). In 1944, after 11 years of marriage, the couple divorced.

In January 1945, at the First Congress of Writers of Brazil, 33-year-old Jorge met a 29-year-old beauty Zelia Gattai(port. Zélia Gattai; 1936-2008), who became a faithful companion until the last minute of his life. But the marriage was officially registered only in 1978, when the couple already had grandchildren from two children - a son Joana Jorge(port. Joan Georges; born 1947) and daughters Palomas(port. Paloma; born 1951).

Jorge Amado with his wife Zelia Gattai

Since the early 1960s. the family lived in their own house, built on the outskirts of Salvador with money raised from the sale of the rights to film adaptations of the writer’s novels. This house was a kind of cultural center, a meeting place for representatives of the arts and creative personalities of Brazil. Since 1983, Jorge and Zelia lived for long periods in Paris, enjoying the peace that their Brazilian home lacked due to the abundance of guests.

Film adaptations of novels

According to the Brazilian Academy of Letters, Jorge Amado wrote about 30 novels, which were translated into 48 languages ​​and published with a total circulation of more than 20 million copies. More than 30 films have been made based on his books. Even popular Brazilian TV series all over the world also began with Amadou’s heroes.

The writer's novels have been repeatedly filmed and staged on the theater stage. One of the most famous films in Russia is “ The Sandpit Generals"(USA, 1917) was based on the novel "Captains of the Sand" by J. Amadou.

In 2011 Cecilia Amadou(port. Cecilia Amado; born 1976), the writer’s granddaughter, created her film version of the same name “Capitães da Areia”, which became her debut independent work in cinema. In addition, Cecilia's film was the first film adaptation of this popular novel in Brazil.

Awards

The work of J. Amado has received high praise both in Brazil and abroad. The writer was awarded 13 different literary prizes and orders.

• International Stalin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Between Nations” (1951)
• Jabuty Prize (1959, 1970)
• Legion of Honor (France; 1984)
• Camões Prize (1994)

Ranks

Jorge Amado has been an honorary doctorate from various Universities in Brazil, Italy, Portugal, Israel and France. He was also the owner of many other titles in almost every South American country.

The writer had many high-profile titles, but perhaps the most important one sounded like this: "literary Pele". And in Brazil, a country where football is idolized, this is the highest award.

J. Amadou called one of his most significant novels “The Shop of Miracles.” His whole colorful life was also a shop of miracles, in which he “remained himself” until the very end.

Curious facts

• As J. Amado noted, Bahia is “the most important black center of Brazil, where African traditions are unusually deep.”
• Almost 80% of the population of Bahia are blacks and mulattoes, the remaining 20% ​​are mestizos and whites. Bahian folk culture is quirky and diverse. It was in Bahia that the ancient religious tradition of Candomblé, persecuted for centuries, was preserved, to which the writer treated with special respect. He even bore the honorary title " Oba de Shango" - the priest of the thunderer Shango, the supreme deity in the African pantheon. As a member of parliament from the Brazilian Communist Party (BCP), Amadou legalized the ancient cult of the poorest segment of the population of Bahia, remembering from childhood how cruelly black temples were destroyed.
• Far from the army, Jorge's father was called a colonel: this is how large landowners are traditionally called in Brazil.
• All of the writer’s novels have been translated into Russian, with the exception of “The Discovery of America by the Turks.”
• Jorge Amadou's novels have been translated into almost 50 languages. Many of them were filmed or formed the basis of theatrical performances, songs and even...comics.
• The first acquaintance of USSR readers with the work of the Brazilian writer began in 1948 with the novel “The City of Ilheus,” then published in Russian translation under the title “Land of Golden Fruits.”
• Translations of the novels “Cocoa” and “Sweat” in Russian were being prepared for publication in Moscow in 1935, but Amadou did not agree to their publication: “... a book like “Cocoa” cannot interest the people who have such a novel , like "Cement". (“Cement” is a novel by the Russian writer F. Gladkov, one of the first examples of the Soviet “industrial novel”, published in 1925).
• The Jabuti Literary Prize was established in 1959 by the Brazilian Chamber of Books (Port. Câmara Brasileira do Livro) for the development of domestic literature. For reference: Jabuti or Yellow-footed turtle (lat. Chelonoidis denticulata) is one of the largest land turtles living in.
• “Soviet land! You are our mother, sister, love, savior of the world!” - young Jorge Amadou wrote these inspired lines after his first trip to the USSR in 1948 (poem “Songs about the Soviet Land”).
• And in 1992, from the pen of a writer who closely followed news from Russia on TV, the following lines came out: “I look with one eye - not at all out of disdain, but because my left eyelid... sank and does not want to rise. Scientifically, this is called “ptosis of the century”, or blepharoptosis, but I am sure that I was cringing at the form in which the Soviet Empire opened up before me. There is no bread in the bakeries of the Union!!!..."
• The state of Bahia is a full-fledged “hero” of the works of J. Amado. The writer himself explained it this way: “Bahia is Brazil... It was in Bahia... that Brazil was born, and the first capital of the country, as you know, was the city of Salvador. And if a Bahian writer lives the life of the Bahian people. This means that he lives the life of the entire Brazilian people, and the problems of the nation are his problems...”
• Some readers recognized themselves in the heroes of his novels. In his books, Jorge Amado actually described real townspeople. For example, in the novel “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands,” out of 304 characters, 137 real persons were created under their own names.
• “When everyone says “yes” in unison, I say “no.” “I was born this way,” the great Brazilian writer of the 20th century wrote about himself.

The world of Jorge Amadou

© Inna Terteryan

It is well known: every great writer is a special world, a special universe. But the created world always exists in tense relationships with the real world, and these relationships can be very different. To say their own word about life, some artists need to construct a fictional world with a special geography and a special history - be it the city of Glupov by Saltykov-Shchedrin, the Yoknapatawpha district of William Faulkner, or the mythological Middle Earth of the wonderful English prose writer J.R.R. Tolkien. In Latin American literature, this path was taken by Juan Carlos Onetti, known to our readers, who invented a special city for his novels - Santa Maria.

There is, however, another type of writers - writers whose universe we call “Balzac’s Paris”, “Dostoevsky’s Petersburg”, “Dickensian London”. The creative destiny of these artists is inextricably linked with the capture of a certain historically authentic “chronotope”, the absorption of its unique currents, and the elevation of documentary everyday life to the rank of myth. The choice of the first or second of the two paths is an intimate question of the writer’s creativity. What is important for the reader is the artistic result. And if we talk about Latin American culture of the 20th century, then here is perhaps the most brilliant example of the second path, the path of translating geographical reality into great literature - the work of Jorge Amado.

Jorge Amado was lucky to be born in the vicinity of Bahia, one of the most colorful and amazing cities in the world. And Bahia was lucky that on an August day in 1912, into the family of the owner of a small cocoa plantation south of the city, someone was born who in the future was destined to give the picturesque and echoing world around him a second life - a life in art, making it a property of world culture. An artist was born not of local significance, not just in love with his native corner of the earth, but an artist who saw in the local, regional the national, in the people of Bahia - the embodiment of the Brazilian folk character.

Bahia (the full name given to the city by the Portuguese colonialists was Sao Salvador da Bahia) lies in the northeast of Brazil, on the shore of a cozy bay. The city stretches along the beaches of the bay, climbing up the slopes of the hills. Everything here is brought together: ancient mansions and churches built in the 17th-18th centuries in a magnificent Baroque style, skyscrapers of modern banks and offices, black huts... As in any tropical seaside city, life takes place mainly on the street, always filled with a motley crowd : here they trade, put on shows, eat, fight, barker, bet... However, this is not yet the amazingness of Bahia. To appreciate it, you need to look into the past.

Bahia was one of the first centers of Portuguese colonization of Brazil. A plantation economy developed around the city (sugar cane and tobacco were grown, then cotton and cocoa), based on slave labor. Caravans of ships with black slaves from Africa sailed to Bahia, since the country's aborigines - the Indians - could not be turned into slaves. The Portuguese colonists took black and Indian women as concubines, sometimes marrying them, and gradually the overwhelming majority of the population of Bahia and the entire northeast of Brazil became mulattoes and mestizo, descendants of three mixed races. As a result of ethnic mixing, a completely new folk culture was formed. For centuries, blacks preserved African pagan cults and held on to them the more stubbornly, the more they were persecuted by white lords and Catholic missionaries. This was a form of protest against slavery. Negro beliefs merged with the similar pagan beliefs of the Indians, who were also persecuted and oppressed. When blacks and Indians were forcibly converted to Catholicism, they adapted the new religion to their pagan cults. Catholic saints were identified with idols, with “orishas.” Thus, the holy trinity of Christians turned into the mighty orisha Oshal, who can appear either in the form of the young man Oshodian or the elder Osholufan. St. George slaying the dragon seemed quite appropriate for Oshossee's god of the hunt. But white people, faced with the alien and dangerous nature of the tropics, easily adopted Negro and Indian beliefs. Moreover, the influence of the Negro and Indian worldview strengthened and preserved the pagan, pre-Christian elements in the Iberian folklore brought by the Portuguese.

In the folk art that flourished in Bahia and spread from here throughout Brazil, researchers distinguish the original Negro, Indian or Iberian elements, but all this is fused into a new, original whole - Brazilian. A wild, multi-day holiday - carnival - was born from the combination of a traditional festival of a European medieval city and a pagan holiday in honor of the onset of autumn. The wrestling practiced by black slaves from Angola for the amusement of white lords was overgrown with music and songs and turned into capoeira - a unique wrestling-dance, where each lunge is accompanied by complex acrobatic movements.

Through persistent and desperate struggle, Brazilian blacks achieved the abolition of slavery (in 1888), and much later, recognition of the right to preserve their tribal cults. The priests were forced to put up with the fact that the holidays of Catholic saints are accompanied by pagan processions and dances, that, having begun in the morning in the church, the holiday ends at night with a general dance in zeal - candomblé (or macumba). In addition, these customs became the property of the entire motley population of Bahia, lost their cult character, and turned into everyday rituals, beloved for their mass character and fun. The amazingness and uniqueness of Bahia lies precisely in the fact that in a big city of the mid-20th century, folk art is not reduced to the role of handicrafts and amateur activities, but lives a natural, full-blooded life, uniting the masses of citizens into a folk collective.

The Bahian calendar is rich in holidays - and each has its own songs, its own dances, its own rituals. The holiday is in full swing in the streets, squares, beaches, no one organizes it, people flock on their own and unite in a coordinated rhythm. The creators of the holiday are the poor people of Bahia. Residents of wealthy neighborhoods remain curious spectators. However, they are often carried away by the imperious rhythm of general fun. The Bahians know how to turn even hard work into a holiday. Lovers come from all over the city to watch fishing: fifty to sixty fishermen pull out a giant net, their bodies move to the beat of a song sung by all the residents of the fishing village - women, children, old people - to the accompaniment of drums and rattles.

“You shouldn’t think that life is easy for people in Bahia. On the contrary, it is a poor city in an underdeveloped, almost impoverished state, although it has enormous natural resources. There are far fewer opportunities for people here than, for example, in Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo. The difference lies in the people's civilization, the people's culture, which makes life less cruel and harsh, more humane...” writes Jorge Amado in the book “Bahia, the good land of Bahia.”* Yes, the art that the people create and with which they fill their everyday life helps to endure poverty and social injustice, instills love of life and hope. (* Jorge Amado. Bahia, boa terra Bahia. Rio de Janeiro, 1967, p. 60.)

Since childhood, Jorge Amado has become familiar with both the cruel severity of folk life and folk art, which enlightens this severity. “The years of adolescence spent on the streets of Bahia, in the port, in markets and fairs, at a folk festival or at a capoeira competition, at magical candomble or on the porch of hundred-year-old churches - this is my best university. Here I was given the bread of poetry, here I learned the pain and joy of my people,” says Amadou in a speech given in 1961 at the entrance to the Brazilian Academy of Letters.* Amadou wandered the streets of Bahia, having escaped from classes, during his years studying at the Jesuit college. And at the age of fourteen he ran away from his mentors and wandered until his father found him across the steppes of the state of Bahia. Another course at the university of popular life... (* Jorge Amado, povo e terra. Sao Paulo, 1972, p. 8.)

Amadou's literary activity began with the novel "Carnival Country" in 1931. This was followed by “Cocoa” (1933) and “Sweat” (1934) - an unvarnished, dryly protocol description of the work and life of farm laborers on a cocoa plantation and proletarians from the outskirts of Bahia. The young writer was deeply influenced by world revolutionary literature of the 20s. In Portuguese and Spanish, he read Sholokhov's "Quiet Don" and Fadeev's "Destruction", Gladkov's "Cement", Serafimovich's "Iron Stream", Libedinsky's "Week", books by Michael Gold, Upton Sinclair. Influenced by the then widespread theory, Amadou perceived revolutionary literature as “literature of fact.” In the preface to “Cocoa,” the writer, formulating the task of such a “maximally honest,” documented depiction of social processes, asks: “Wouldn’t this be a proletarian novel?”

“Cocoa” and “Sweat” found a warm response among participants in the revolutionary movement in Brazil. But Amadou was not satisfied with his first books. He wanted the theme of the formation of class consciousness to be fused with purely national forms of life and thinking. Everything that he heard and saw during his adolescence and youthful wanderings around the city - songs, legends, traditions - all of this was torn onto paper. So Amadou wrote his first series of novels about Bahia: “Jubiaba” (1935), “Dead Sea” (1936), “Captains of the Sand” (1937).

In “The Dead Sea,” Amadou found the poetic key to the narrative he needed: every situation, every action of the characters has, as it were, two possible interpretations, two meanings: ordinary and fabulous, real and legendary. In reality, the heroes of the novel live a miserable life in a fishing village, die at sea, leaving widows and orphans. In the legendary plan, they communicate with the gods and the sailor does not return from the voyage because he becomes the lover of the goddess of the sea Iemanja. The folklore myth that Amadou used in the book is extremely common in Bahia. And to this day, on February 2, on the day of the sea goddess Iansan (or Iemanji), residents go to the beaches, throw flowers on the waves, women throw modest gifts into the water - combs, beads, rings, in order to appease the formidable goddess, to beg her to return her husband or groom unharmed.

The theme of the formation of the class consciousness of the Brazilian worker is also in this novel, but it is hidden in the story of the legendary life of the daredevil Guma and makes itself felt only in echoes: either by mention of a strike in the port, or by the vague dreams of the teacher Dona Dulce about social justice. And only at the end of the book, the combination of two motivations - everyday and poetic - highlights the true outcome of the story.

Many times in the Dead Sea the fate of sailors' widows is spoken of: in stories remembered throughout the port, in songs, in the thoughts of Guma, in the prayers of Libya. And then the premonitions came true - Livia was left alone with the child in her arms. But she did not end up in eternal bondage to the manufacturer or brothel owner. Libya found her own path, independent and difficult. She was the first of the port women to go out to sea on the “Winged” next to Guma’s male comrades.

But there is another, song-fairy tale reason for Libya’s decision. According to the deep faith of all the people of the port, a sailor who died in a storm while saving his comrades becomes Iemanji’s beloved. It is she, jealous of her chosen one, who unleashes a storm and takes her lover to the distant lands of Ayok, where he will belong only to her. And Livia believes that at sea, taking Guma’s place at the helm of his boat, she will snatch her husband from the hands of the goddess and again experience the joy of love. And when her boat rushes past the sailors, Livia herself seems to them like Iemanja, the mistress of the sea.

The miracle that sailors wait for in songs and legends is a struggle. And every bold step that frees you from fear and humiliation brings a miracle closer. Miracles will be performed by strong, free, beautiful people. Guma could become such a person. Libya becomes such a person. People are like gods - this is how we can describe the idea of ​​​​that poetic transformation of reality into legend, which takes place in the novel.

This transformation clearly appears in the language of the novel. Heroes don’t think like that at all, they say. In the dialogues of the characters, Amadou reproduces colloquial expressions and grammatical irregularities characteristic of common colloquial speech. In the indirect transmission of the characters’ thoughts, in their internal monologue, all irregularities disappear, linguistic features characteristic of folklore appear: repetitions of words and entire phrases, leitmotif phrases, quotes from folk songs. Next to the dialogue, the language of internal monologues seems elevated, closer to a prose poem. The language failure demonstrates the gap between the everyday life of the heroes with the ignorance, poverty, and rudeness imposed on them - and the high poetic structure of their feelings, their spiritual capabilities.

"The Dead Sea", like the rest of the novels of the first Bahian cycle, especially "Jubiaba", introduced a new note into Brazilian literature. Interest in folklore has spread among the Brazilian intelligentsia since the 20s. Magazines and poetry groups arose (“Pau-Brazil”, “Yellow-Green”, “Revista de Anthropophagia”), promoting Indian, and less often Negro folklore as an original element of national culture. Vivid works were created (Raoul Bopp's poem "The Serpent of Norato", Mario de Andrade's novel "Macunaima") based on Indian myths and legends. However, folklore remained for these writers a special, enchanting, but closed world, disconnected from modernity with its social conflicts. Therefore, in their books there is a hint of admiration for an exotic, decorative spectacle.

There was another approach to folklore. Realist writers of the 30s, and especially Jose Lins do Rego, in five novels of the “Sugar Cane Cycle”, spoke about many beliefs of Brazilian blacks, described their holidays, macumba rituals. For Lins before Rego, the beliefs and customs of blacks are one of the aspects of social reality (along with labor, relations between masters and farmhands, etc.) that he observes and explores.

Amadou does not observe his heroes, does not maintain the distance that exists between the object of study and the researcher. A legend born of the popular imagination reveals itself as an existing reality right now. Amadou the narrator appears as a commentator on the folk legend, knowing all the authentic details. Folklore is not depicted - folklore penetrates every cell of the narrative, determines the plot, composition, and psychology of the characters. The characters’ feelings are intensified, enlarged, as in a folk song. Amadou talks about his heroes as a song or a fairy tale tells, always unequivocally evaluating people. In “The Dead Sea” Rosa Palmeirao embodies maternal, sacrificial love, Esmeralda - low, treacherous passion, Livia - the only love that is stronger than death. The heroes of the novel, like the anonymous authors of songs and legends, know only light - or dark, pure - or base, friendship - or betrayal. And so directly, so sincerely, the narrator shares the worldview of the heroes that the fairy-tale atmosphere of the novel seems real, that the reader is ready to believe in the existence of Iemanzha and the distant land of sailors Ayok. The scene with the candle is remarkable in this sense: the friends of the deceased Guma are looking for his body and for this purpose they throw a burning candle across the water - according to legend, the candle will stop over the drowned man. A doctor, an educated man who does not believe in sea omens, is also sailing in the boat. But Guma’s friends dive so tirelessly and selflessly in the most dangerous places, as soon as the candle hesitates a little, that the doctor begins to tensely monitor its movement. And the reader watches the stops of the candle and waits for Guma’s body to appear in the arms of his comrades. The faith of the novel's heroes in a fairy tale - the best hypostasis of their lives, their natures, their relationships - is fascinating.

“Captains of the Sand” (1937) marked a new stage in Amadou’s artistic search. It would seem that, in comparison with the “Dead Sea,” folklore motifs here recede somewhat into the background, disappearing into the subtext. But the closeness and merciless truthfulness with which the fate of a group of Bahian street children is examined in the novel is reminiscent of the sociological protocol of Amadou’s first books - “Cocoa” and “Sweat”. The lives of these poor teenagers appear before us in every detail, sometimes funny, sometimes grossly repulsive. Amadou clearly identifies the racial and social characteristics of each group member. He strives for extreme accuracy in conveying the characters' speech, without fear of shocking the reader. And yet, this element of hard documentaryism is firmly fused in the novel with another element - folklore and poetry. There is always poetry in the wretched lives of Amadou's characters. “The captains of the sand,” “dressed in rags, dirty, hungry, aggressive, spouting obscenities and hunting for cigarette butts, were the real masters of the city: they knew it to the end, they loved it to the end, they were its poets” - this is the author’s commentary, playing an important role in the artistic whole of the novel.

In the first Bahian cycle of novels, Amadou found his own original artistic path - a bold combination of folklore and everyday life, the use of folklore to reveal the spiritual powers of the modern Brazilian. However, this path turned out to be neither simple nor direct for the writer.

In 1937, after the establishment of a reactionary dictatorship in Brazil, Amado, an active participant in the revolutionary movement, was forced to emigrate. In 1942 he returned to his homeland, but already in 1947 he emigrated again and until 1952 he lived first in France, then in Czechoslovakia. During the years of emigration, Amado became an international public figure representing democratic Brazil. It is quite understandable and natural that the writer, whose homeland was experiencing painful social upheavals, had a need to understand the historical process. And while in exile, Amadou did not forget his beloved Bahia - he wrote a nostalgic book “Bahia of All Saints. A guide to the streets and secrets of the city of San Salvador." But his main work during these years was work on epic canvases, which traced the fate of a vast region for half a century (“Endless Lands”, 1942; “City of Ilheus”, 1944), the fate of an entire class - the peasantry (“Red Shoots”, 1946 ) and, finally, the fate of the entire nation (“Freedom Underground”, 1952). For the first two books, Amadou used the memories of his early childhood: after all, he was born and raised on a cocoa plantation near the town of Ilheusa in the state of Bahia and as a child witnessed clashes between planters, revenge, violence, robbery (once Amadou’s father was wounded in front of his son), and in the evenings Relatives, farm laborers, and servants told legends about bloodthirsty planters, cruel but fair robbers - cangaceiros, desperate mercenaries - jagunso. All this was included in the duology about the land of cocoa. In “Red Shoots,” the writer relies on folklore symbolism: the book is divided into three parts, a story about the fate of three brothers (an eternal motif of fairy tales, including the Brazilian one), embodying three versions of a peasant rebellion.

In emigration, Amadou became close to writers from different countries, entered European literary life, and in the works of these years, the influence of the form of a multifaceted epic novel, well developed in European literature, is noticeable. In “Freedom Underground,” traces of folk poetics completely disappear. Amadou subsequently said that this novel of his was written under the enormous influence of Aragon’s epic “The Communists.” The Brazilian writer here, too, did not change his pictorial skill, but on the whole he was unable to find an organic (as organic as in his early folklore novels) artistic system for the gigantic new vital material. After all, he tried to cover all of Brazil with its tops and bottoms, political, social and psychological conflicts at one of the most acute moments in its recent history. In the novel, these collisions were straightened out and schematized. Numerous plot lines of the novel are built according to the same scheme: representatives of different classes (peasant, loader, ballerina, architect, officer, etc.), experiencing dramatic situations and finding support from the communists in difficult times, recognize the truth of communist ideas. The national specificity of life here turns into something external, decorative, insignificant, into a brightly painted backdrop and scenes against which the action takes place.

Amadou experienced a deep creative crisis in 1955-1956. He stopped working on the trilogy, the first part of which was supposed to be Freedom Underground. Several years of silence passed: the writer deeply thought about his intention to go from now on not in breadth - into the breadth of space and history, but in depth - into the depths of the human community. And he returned to Bahia.

He returned to Bahia in the literal sense of the word. Since 1963 he has lived in Bahia permanently, this is his home, his friends. He knows everyone in Bahia: the masters of capoeira, the women selling Bahian sweets, the fishermen, the boatmen, the old priests and priestesses of Macumba. And they know and love Seu Jorge, they come to him for advice and help.

But even earlier, a new Bahian cycle began in Amadou’s work: in 1958, the novel “Gabriela, Cinnamon and Cloves” was published, in 1961, the short story “The Extraordinary Death of Kinkasa Perish the Water” and the novel “Old Sailors, or the True Truth about the Questionable Adventures of a Distant Captain voyages of Vasco Moscoso de Aragan”, united under the general name “Old Sailors”. This was followed by a collection of stories and short stories “Shepherds of the Night” (1964), novels “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands” (1966), “The Shop of Miracles” (1969), “Teresa Batista, Tired of War” (1972), “Tieta of Agreste , or The Return of the Prodigal Daughter" (1976).

As a matter of fact, the designation “new Bahian cycle” is partly arbitrary. The action doesn't always take place on the streets and beaches of Bahia. The heroes of “Gabriela...” live in the same town of Ilheus, the center of the cocoa zone, the “land of golden fruits,” whose name was already in the title of one of Amadou’s novels; Teresa Batista and Tieta from Agreste travel to different cities and lands, Tieta even reaches Sao Paulo. But wherever the events take place in these books, the story about them is united by a common view of life, a common human climate. And there is always continuity with the first cycle of novels about Bahia. The life of the Bahian people served as a model for Amadou’s artistic world. The experience of everyday communication with fishermen, sailors, loaders, workers, and market traders suggested to Amad the very idea of ​​the duality of life and human behavior. After all, the poor people of Bahia truly live a dual life: tired of poverty, humiliated and exhausted by hard everyday life, they become strong and free creators during the holiday, carnival, and dance. Here they dictate the laws: those who pushed them around yesterday, on the day of the holiday, admire and imitate their fun.

Amadou's new books are realistic in the most literal sense of the word - extremely life-like. Amadou knows how to write everyday life rapturously, with some kind of greed for material details, knows how to achieve the effect of presence (Ilya Ehrenburg spoke about this in the preface to one of Amadou’s novels). But no matter how real and unconditionally reliable all the details of the story are, we still feel that we are in a special world, where everything is noticeably shifted and condensed. Something must happen, something must break out from the everyday shell that has hidden it until now. Just like during a carnival, when for several days the most ordinary people live an extraordinary life, revealing incredible strength, temperament, and energy that does not dry out during these days. And here, in Bahia, and throughout Brazil, the carnival is not the result of scientific research or artistic restoration. It takes place every year on its own time.

It’s the same in Amadou’s books: ordinary life goes on, funny or pitiful figures are swarming around (let’s remember sea captain Vasco Moscoso de Aragan and other characters in the book “The Old Sailors”) - there is plenty of satire in Amadou’s books, sometimes good-natured, sometimes not at all good-natured . The selfishness and baseness of the authorities, the greed and cowardice of the philistines, the spiritual and mental routine, the claims and prejudices of pseudo-scientists and pseudo-democrats - all this is presented in grotesque sharpness. But the matter is not limited to satirical ridicule. The deadline approaches and a carnival explosion cancels the ordinary. It can be completely fantastic: the god Ogun appears at the christening of the son of a poor black man, a dead man rises to see his friends. And sometimes not fantastic, but also incredible events occur. The cook Gabriela, whom her master married, thereby making her a rich and respected lady in the city, demonstratively cheats on him and willingly returns to her former beggarly position. All residents of the Mata Gato slum engage in battle with the police and city authorities. A natural disaster of cosmic proportions sweeps over the harbor of Belem do Gran Para, destroying all ships except the steamship Ita, moored at full anchor by the hapless captain Vasco. One way or another, in a fairy tale or in a real one, in a mass or in an individual psychological situation, a fight occurs. A clash between two forces. Between selfishness and selflessness, double-mindedness and sincerity, mannerism and simplicity, friendship and selfishness. Between popular ideas about life and the actual life of bourgeois society. And thus - between the national environment and the non-national spiritual stereotype developed by modern capitalist society and spreading everywhere, including in Brazil.

To embody this clash, to characterize the antagonists participating in it, the writer developed an original and organic poetic system. In all of Amadou’s books, starting with “Gabriela...”, two camps, two streams collide. This is partly reminiscent of the two-plane nature of The Dead Sea, but the relationship between everyday life and poetry here is much more complex. The poetic plan of the narrative is no longer entirely transferred to the sphere of legend, it seems to be overgrown with the “meat” of reality, thin threads of poetry stretch into everyday life, noting in it what comes into contact with the deep movement of the people’s consciousness.

In the works “The Old Sailors” or especially “Done Flor”, everyday life and fantasy collide in an irreconcilable battle. They are completely hostile, opposite, and only humor can create a precarious balance between them. Thus, humor makes possible the “happy ending” in Dona Flor.

In Amado's works, the supernatural is associated with the beliefs of Brazilian blacks, with the rituals of their cults that have survived to this day, especially in Bahia. Of course, the black cult attracts the artist not because of its deep-rooted beliefs. Thanks to the efforts of Candomblé, ancient folk art has been preserved and is being preserved. Candomblé is a real festival of folklore: the sophisticated beat of atabaque drums sounds (later such a beat called “boosanova” is beaten out on all stages of the world), ancient cantigas are sung, young priestesses of Iavo dance in a round dance, and old priestesses prepare spicy and spicy dishes for those gathered, masterpieces of Baiyan folk cooking, which is also art. Candomble gathers the poor, helps them unite, feel together with their relatives in spirit, with friends, helps them maintain the collectivity of everyday life and the collectivity of artistic creativity in difficult conditions.

Candomblé deifies dance: God here expresses his mercy only by granting his chosen one freedom and beauty of movements; a daring dance is a sign of the presence of the Divine, the favor of the Divine. And this attitude towards dance as a beautiful and happy gift colors everyday life in Amadou’s books. Dance becomes a means of characterization and evaluation; dance expresses love and joy, relief and satisfaction - all human feelings.

Food plays a similar role in Amadou’s narrative. Dishes that can only be cooked in Bahia are involved in all the twists and turns of the plot, in all the decisive events in the lives of Amadou’s heroes. The adventures of the revived corpse of Quincas Perish the Water unfold as his friends drag him to the port so that, even though he is dead, he can taste the delicious moqueca prepared by Manuel.

Finally, the book about Dona Flor includes detailed recipes for Bahian dishes - on an equal footing with the experiences of the unfortunate widow, because each dish, the secret of which Dona Flor, the head of the culinary school “Taste and Art”, teaches her students, recalls sweet and bitter moments, experiences with her late husband.

Bahian cuisine is one of the important components of Afro-Brazilian folk culture. Brazilian historians and ethnographers have carefully studied Afro-Brazilian cooking as an area of ​​racial mixing. The famous ethnographer Gilberto Freire pointed out that black dishes introduced by slave cooks into the diet of white colonialists helped the Portuguese adapt to tropical conditions. Bahian cuisine thus participated in the formation of the Brazilian nation. Jorge Amado draws attention to another, spiritual aspect of the problem - the attitude of the people's consciousness to the enjoyment of food. The popular consciousness is not only not ashamed of this pleasure, but, on the contrary, deifies it, including it in ritual. Food is sacred, it is included in the holiday along with music, song, and strange dance movements.

Sensual pleasure also openly and frankly reigns in Amadou’s artistic world. Sometimes critics are confused by the serene sensuality that is diffused in the behavior of the characters, in the details of the female portrait, in the speech of the narrator. In Amadou's novels and short stories there is no deliberate “exposure of secrets”, to which everyone familiar with Western literature is accustomed. Sexual pleasure for Amadou’s heroes is as natural and necessary as the pleasure from food or physical movement.

The highest, sweetest and most painful point of Dona Flor's memories of her first love is the evening in the restaurant when the Reveler drags her, embarrassed and shy, out to dance and both dance so enthusiastically that they outshine everyone, and couple after couple stop, giving them a place... .

Dance expresses love and joy, relief and satisfaction, all human feelings.

This connection of bodily pleasures penetrates right down to the very cells of representation. Dance, food, love merge into a single image of cheerful, free flesh.

In the books of Jorge Amadou, the popular element, the attributes of which are free, joyful flesh and the free flight of fantasy, collides in an irreconcilable battle with the bourgeois environment and the bourgeois worldview. This clash is brought to an open and programmatic opposition in the novel “The Shop of Miracles.” It seems that Amadou wrote this book because he decided to explain himself to the end, frankly. There is no fantasy here, no duality of motivations, everything is absolutely real, and for added authenticity the real names of Amadou’s contemporaries and compatriots are mentioned. Of course, Pedro Archango, the protagonist of “The Shop of Miracles,” is a fictitious figure, and the whole story of the belated recognition of his ethnographic works is fictitious. Touches of authenticity and chronicity are needed only to emphasize the real importance of the dispute being waged by Pedro Archango.

Pedro Archango is the author's double. Of course, not in biographical terms. Archanzho's life dates back to the first decades of our century: in the early 40s, he died as a poor old man on a Baiyan street. He is the author's double in the most important way - in attitude to life, in life position. A scientist by vocation and talent, Archangeau makes his very life an argument in a scientific dispute. And this dispute naturally grows out of his life, becomes the defense of everything dear to him, infinitely dear to Master Pedro. So with Jorge Amadou himself: his books grow out of his life, out of his endless love for his fellow countrymen, for their ancient art, for their naive and wise way of life, in which the writer participates as an equal, as a respected master (like Pedro Archangeau, Amadou elected "oba" - the elder of one of the Bahian temples and sits during the festivities in an honorary chair next to the main priestess). Books grow out of affection and turn into conviction, into a position in the very debate that is being waged in the novel by Pedro Arcangio, but in reality the writer Jorge Amado has been waging for many decades.

Pedro Archango affirms one idea: the Brazilian people have created and are constantly creating a unique culture. It’s time to stop talking about lack of independence and more or less successful imitation of “white civilization.” Blacks, Indians and whites (first the Portuguese, and then immigrants from many countries of the Old World) brought their traditions into the common crucible of the new nation. Having melted in this crucible, they gave rise to a new, vibrant and extraordinary culture. But Pedro Archangeau's thesis is not only anthropological, but also social. The ideal of Pedro Archangeau, the ideal that he defends both with his research and with his life, without fear of humiliation, poverty, or threats, is a democratic ideal in the full sense of the word. National and class in his understanding do not contradict each other: it is the workers of Brazil who preserve and develop the national culture, and it is in the everyday life of the poor that the best qualities of the national character are formed and manifested.

Jorge Amado is by no means one of those who are inclined to idealize the people’s life and see in it something self-sufficient: they say, the people live by their eternal values ​​and they don’t need anything else. Amadou and his hero know that the people still need a lot, that the people’s way of life must change and will definitely change. This applies primarily to social conditions, but also to consciousness: beliefs, concepts, relationships. In one of the scenes of the novel, Pedro Archango explains to his colleague, Professor Fraga, how he, Archango, a convinced materialist, can be interested in candomblé and the dance of blacks who believe that orisha deities have inhabited them. Fraga is also a materialist scientist, but of a positivist kind, limiting himself to a narrowly understood scientific sphere, not thinking about the dialectical complexity of social development. And Archangeau explains: for centuries, under the whip of the slave owner, under police bullets, the dance of the orisha gods was preserved, in order to become the property of art in the future , from the theater stage to delight people with the miracle of beauty. Helping a people preserve their art and love of life does not mean wanting to perpetuate the people’s current way of life, but, on the contrary, “helping change society, helping transform the world.”

In the morals and habits of Pedro Archango and his friends, as well as the morals and habits of the heroes of other works by Amadou, much seems doubtful to us. But the fact is that between the characters and the reader there is always an author-narrator, not a faceless narrator, but a person capable of evaluating the life depicted. The narrator's speech is full of humor and good-natured irony. Irony becomes a preventive measure against a too direct, primitively literal understanding of the story. Don’t be afraid to laugh at the excesses, eccentricities, and weaknesses of the heroes, but pay tribute to their sincerity and honesty, generosity and selflessness, their natural kindness, the author tells us with the most ironic intonation of speech.

Amadou's storytelling style gradually developed. In “Gabriel...” the narrator still seems to lose his voice, now moving to a faceless narration, now ignited with emotion. But over the years, masterful mastery of all registers of artistic speech came. “Maybe it’s just a love for the art of storytelling?” - the writer says slyly in the fairy tale for adults “The Love Story of the Tabby Cat and Senorita Swallow.” This fairy tale, which Amadou composed, putting it aside and returning for several years, captivates with its omnipotent, truly magical speech. There is no intricate plot, no bright fantasy, no unexpected ending, and the reader either smiles or is sad. Surprise, fantasy, intricacy and simplicity - all this is only in the manner of telling (but, consequently, in the manner of seeing the world), turning everyday things first one way or the other, forcing the reader to guess behind the humorous buffoonery the sadness of inevitable aging.

The fairy tale method of storytelling is genetically connected with oral literature and folklore. In Brazil, popular print books are still widespread and sold at any provincial fair. At these same fairs, blind storytellers gather around them, telling legendary and semi-legendary stories about famous robbers, cruel planters, and rebellious slaves. The ornate titles of Amadou's latest works, imitating the titles of popular popular stories, seem to send us back to the origins and remind us of their kinship with folklore stories. However, Amadou does not at all imitate the artless folk tale. Sometimes to readers and critics such a relaxed style of narration, a cheerfully flowing story, seem to be a concession to entertainment, as if the stigma of “entertaining literature.” I think this is a myopic view. The playful frivolity of Amadou the narrator has not only its own system, but also its own great artistic goal. And the word “game” was used here for a reason. The playful element in Amadou’s books is indeed very strong: the characters play, the narrator plays with those he is talking about, and with us, the readers, teasing us with a feigned seriousness on his face. But the game has its own spiritual content, and it does not at all come down to entertainment and relaxation. The meaning, the spiritual purpose of the game, is the core of Amadou’s mature creativity.

Our introduction began with a story about Bahia. Remaining a passionate portraitist of his native corner of the earth, Amadou was able to look at it both from the inside and from the outside, from the thousand-year tradition of folk art, from a modernity preoccupied with complex social and intellectual problems. Did he feel in the Bahian life the breath of a utopian folk dream, an ineradicable age-old ideal principle, or did he introduce the thoughts and aspirations of a modern artist into the image of this life and thereby give it universality? It is hardly possible to answer this question unambiguously. What happens to Bahia and the Bahian carnival crowd in Jorge Amado's books is one of the usual wonders in the art shop.

The popular element in Amadou’s books is both utopian ideal and at the same time nationally specific. Amadou endlessly loves his fellow countrymen, admires their uniqueness - and wants to infect us all with this love. But he is also looking for new means to reveal this originality that influence today’s reader, because he is confident in its significance for modern man. Amadou wants to see those qualities of national character that need to be preserved, shaping our ideas about a truly humane society. Explained historically, the national identity of the Brazilian people is like a theme in the general symphony of humanity, where it is important not to lose a single note. Embodied in plastic and unusually attractive art, Brazilian originality significantly complements the spiritual life of the 20th century. Art becomes a wise reminder of the boundless wealth that lies beyond the inharmonious social everyday life.

Brazilian literature

Jorge Amadou

Biography

Born on August 10, 1912 in Ilheus (Bahia), the son of a small planter. He started writing at the age of 14. In the early novels Carnival Country (O paiz do carnaval, 1932), Dead Sea (Mar morto, 1936), Captains of the Sand (Capites da areia, 1937) he described the struggle of workers for their rights. Indicative in this regard is the novel by Jubiab (1935), whose hero, a street beggar as a child, first becomes a thief and gang leader, and then, having gone through the school of class struggle, becomes a progressive trade union leader and an exemplary father of the family.

An activist of the Communist Party of Brazil, Amado was expelled from the country more than once for political activities. In 1946 he was elected to the National Congress, but two years later, after the Communist Party was banned, he was expelled again. Over the next four years, he traveled to a number of countries in Western and Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, met with P. Picasso, P. Eluard, P. Neruda and other prominent cultural figures.

Upon returning to his homeland in 1952, he devoted himself entirely to literary creativity, becoming a singer of his native Bahia, with its tropical exoticism and pronounced African origins in culture. His novels are distinguished by an interest in folk traditions and magical ritual, a taste for life with all its joys. Ideological guidelines in creativity give way to artistic criteria proper, operating in line with that purely Latin American direction, which received the name “magical realism” in criticism. The beginning of these changes was laid by the novel Endless Lands (Terras do sem fim, 1942), followed by other novels of the same direction - Gabriela, cinnamon and cloves (Gabriela, cravo e canela, 1958), Shepherds of the Night (Os pastores da noite, 1964) , Dona Flor and her two husbands (Dona Flor e seus dois maridos, 1966), Shop of Miracles (Tenda dos milagres, 1969), Teresa Batista, Tired of War (Teresa Batista, cansada de guerra, 1972), Ambush (Tocaia grande, 1984 ) and others. In 1951, Amadou was awarded the Lenin Prize, and in 1984 he was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor (France).

Amadou was born in the city of Ilheus on August 10, 1912. The son of a small plantation owner began to show his talent for writing in his teens, at 14 years old. His first novels (“Carnival Country” 1932, “Dead Sea” 1936, “Captains of the Sand” 1937) dealt with the struggle of workers for their rights. An example of this position was the novel “Jubiaba” of 1935, which describes the life path of a man, starting from early childhood. The hero of the novel was a homeless beggar and, until maturity, an exemplary father of a family and trade union leader. Amadou was often in exile abroad due to his strong expression of communist views. He was elected as a deputy to the National Congress in 1946.

Two years after his election, the Communist Party was banned and Amadou was again expelled from the country. In his exile, he traveled to many countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. Met with such famous cultural figures as P. Neruda, P. Picasso, P. Eluard. In 1952, he returned to his native land and devoted himself entirely to writing, telling in his creations about his native state of Bania, the roots of which go deep into African culture, with its tropics and exoticism. Jorge Amado's novels contain a passion for folk traditions and magic, a love for life with all its fruits.

Amadou's communist ideology is lost in his work against the backdrop of his artistic standards, which manifest themselves in the industry of a pure Latin American direction, which has been called by critics as “magical realism”. The novel “Endless Lands” (1942) was a pioneer, followed by novels in the same direction - “Gabriela, Cinnamon and Clove” (1958), “Shepherds of the Night” (1964), “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands” (1966), “The Shop of Miracles” (1969), “ Teresa Batista, tired of fighting" 1972, "Ambush" 1984 and others. Amadou was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1951, and in 1984 - the Order of the Legion of Honor in France. On August 6, 2001, the writer passed away in Salvador, Bania state.

Jorge Leal Amado de Faria(Port.-Brazil. Jorge Leal Amado de Faria; August 10, Itabuna - August 6, Salvador) - Brazilian writer, public and political figure. Academician of the Brazilian Academy of Arts and Letters (1961, chair number 23 of 40).

Biography

The son of João Amado de Faria and Eulalia Leal, Jorge Amado was born on August 10, 1912 in the hacienda of Auricidía in the state of Bahia. Jorge's father was an emigrant from the state of Sergipe who came to Bahia to grow cocoa. But a year later, due to a smallpox epidemic, his family was forced to move to the city of Ilheus, where Jorge spent his entire childhood. The impressions of this period of his life, especially his fascination with the sea, political and land feuds, in one of which his father was shot, influenced his future work.

The future writer was taught literacy by his mother, who taught him to read from newspapers, and he received his school education in Salvador, at the religious college of Antonio Vieira, where he was sent to study from the age of eleven. There he became addicted to reading and re-read writers such as Charles Dickens, Jonathan Swift and others.

In 1924, he left school and traveled the roads of Bahia for two months, reaching the state of Sergipe to see his grandfather.

In the 1930s, the writer traveled through Brazil, Latin America and the United States, which resulted in the novel “Captains of the Sand” (1937). After returning, he was arrested again, and a thousand of his books were burned by the military police.

After his liberation in 1938 he moved to live in São Paulo, and upon returning to Rio he went into exile, first in Uruguay and then in Argentina from 1941 to 1942. On his return to Bahia he was expelled again.

After the legalization of the Communist Party in December 1945, the writer was elected from it to the National Congress from Sao Paulo. That same year, he prepared many bills, including the law on freedom of religion. After the exclusion of the Communist Party from the electoral list, Jorge Amado lost his mandate.

In 1952 he returned to his homeland and began to actively engage in literary creativity.

Amadou's novels have been translated into almost 50 languages, including Russian; have been filmed several times. The most famous film adaptation is “Sandpit Generals” (USA), based on the novel “Sand Captains”. In 2011, the same novel was filmed by the writer’s granddaughter Cecilia Amadou. Cecilia's film became the first film adaptation of this book in Brazil, although in total Amado's work has become the literary basis for films and television films more than a dozen times.

Family

The writer married Matilda García Rosa in 1933 in the state of Sergipe. Their first daughter died.

In 1944, Jorge Amado divorced Matilda after living together for 11 years. That same year, at a congress of Brazilian writers, he met Zelia Gattai, who became his companion for the rest of his life. In 1947, the couple had their first child together. But at that time they were not officially married and formalized their marriage only in 1978, when they already had grandchildren.

Since the early 1960s, they lived in their own house, built on the outskirts of Salvador with money raised from the sale of film rights to his novels. This house has also become a cultural center for many creative people.

Since 1983, Jorge and Zelia have spent half the year in Paris, enjoying the silence that never existed in their country house in Brazil.

Children: Lila (1933, died 1949), Joan Jorge (1947) and Paloma (1951).

Awards and prizes

• International Stalin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Between Nations” (1951) and many other international and Brazilian awards
• member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
• Honorary doctorate from various universities in Brazil, Portugal, Italy, Israel and France, holder of numerous other titles in almost every country in South America, including the title of Oba de Shango of the Candomblé religion.

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Notes

Literature

• Jorge Amadou. Coastal swimming. - M.: Vagrius, 1999, Trans. from the port: A. Bogdanovsky. (My 20th century). (memories)
• Elena Sazanovich “Dreams from Sand” (essay in the author’s column “100 books that shocked the world”, magazine “Youth” (No. 09, 2012).
• E. I. Belyakova.“Russian” Amado and Brazilian literature in Russia. - M.: Institute of Latin America RAS, 2010. - 224 p. - 400 copies. - ISBN 978-5-201-05456-4.

Links

• (biography, works, articles)
• Lev Ospovat,
• [amadu.rf/ Article “Jorge Amado - the ironic poet of Bahia” on the resource of the Center for Language and Culture of Portuguese-Speaking Countries portugalist.ru/]

Novels Jorge Amadou Carnival Country (1931) · Cocoa (1933) · Sweat (1934) · Jubiaba (1935) · Dead Sea (1936) · Captains of the Sand (1937) · The Life of Luis Carlos Prestes (1942) · Endless Lands (1943) · City of Ilheus (1944) · Red shoots (1946) · Freedom Underground (1954) · Gabriela, cinnamon and cloves (1958) · The Extraordinary Death of Kinkas Perish Water (1959) · Old sailors, or the honest truth about the dubious adventures of sea captain Vasco Moscoso de Aragan (1961) · Shepherds of the night (1964) · Dona Flor and her two husbands (1966) · Miracle Shop (1969) · Teresa Batista, tired of fighting (1972) · Tieta of Agreste, or The Return of the Prodigal Daughter (1977) · Palm branch, shoulder straps and peignoir (1979) · Big ambush (1984) · Disappearance of a Saint (1988) · Coastal sailing (1992) · Discovery of America by the Turks (1994) · Oguma's Buddies (1995)

1989-2000 2001-2010 2011-2020

Excerpt characterizing Amadou, Jorge

Without answering anything to either his wife or his mother-in-law, Pierre got ready for the road late one evening and left for Moscow to see Joseph Alekseevich. This is what Pierre wrote in his diary.
“Moscow, November 17th.
I just arrived from my benefactor, and I hasten to write down everything that I experienced. Joseph Alekseevich lives poorly and has been suffering from a painful bladder disease for three years. No one ever heard a groan or a word of murmur from him. From morning until late at night, with the exception of the hours during which he eats the simplest food, he works on science. He received me graciously and seated me on the bed on which he was lying; I made him a sign of the knights of the East and Jerusalem, he answered me in the same way, and with a gentle smile asked me about what I had learned and acquired in the Prussian and Scottish lodges. I told him everything as best I could, conveying the reasons that I proposed in our St. Petersburg box and informed him about the bad reception given to me and about the break that had occurred between me and the brothers. Joseph Alekseevich, having paused and thought for a while, expressed his view of all this to me, which instantly illuminated for me everything that had happened and the entire future path ahead of me. He surprised me by asking if I remembered what the threefold purpose of the order was: 1) to preserve and learn the sacrament; 2) in purifying and correcting oneself in order to perceive it and 3) in correcting the human race through the desire for such purification. What is the most important and first goal of these three? Of course, your own correction and cleansing. This is the only goal we can always strive for, regardless of all circumstances. But at the same time, this goal requires the most work from us, and therefore, misled by pride, we, missing this goal, either take on the sacrament, which we are unworthy to receive due to our impurity, or we take on the correction of the human race, when we ourselves are an example of abomination and depravity. Illuminism is not a pure doctrine precisely because it is carried away by social activities and is filled with pride. On this basis, Joseph Alekseevich condemned my speech and all my activities. I agreed with him in the depths of my soul. On the occasion of our conversation about my family affairs, he told me: “The main duty of a true Mason, as I told you, is to improve himself.” But often we think that by removing all the difficulties of our life from ourselves, we will more quickly achieve this goal; on the contrary, my lord, he told me, only in the midst of secular unrest can we achieve three main goals: 1) self-knowledge, for a person can know himself only through comparison, 2) improvement, which is achieved only through struggle, and 3) to achieve the main virtue - love of death. Only the vicissitudes of life can show us its futility and can contribute to our innate love of death or rebirth to a new life. These words are all the more remarkable because Joseph Alekseevich, despite his severe physical suffering, is never burdened by life, but loves death, for which he, despite all the purity and height of his inner man, does not yet feel sufficiently prepared. Then the benefactor explained to me the full meaning of the great square of the universe and pointed out that the triple and seventh numbers are the basis of everything. He advised me not to distance myself from communication with the St. Petersburg brothers and, occupying only 2nd degree positions in the lodge, try, distracting the brothers from the hobbies of pride, to turn them to the true path of self-knowledge and improvement. In addition, for himself, he personally advised me, first of all, to take care of myself, and for this purpose he gave me a notebook, the same one in which I write and will henceforth write down all my actions.”
“Petersburg, November 23rd.
“I live with my wife again. My mother-in-law came to me in tears and said that Helen was here and that she was begging me to listen to her, that she was innocent, that she was unhappy with my abandonment, and much more. I knew that if I only allowed myself to see her, I would no longer be able to refuse her her desire. In my doubts, I did not know whose help and advice to resort to. If the benefactor was here, he would tell me. I retired to my room, re-read Joseph Alekseevich’s letters, remembered my conversations with him, and from everything I concluded that I should not refuse anyone who asks and should give a helping hand to everyone, especially to a person so connected with me, and I should bear my cross. But if I forgave her for the sake of virtue, then let my union with her have one spiritual goal. So I decided and wrote to Joseph Alekseevich. I told my wife that I ask her to forget everything old, I ask her to forgive me for what I might have been guilty of before her, but that I have nothing to forgive her. I was happy to tell her this. Let her not know how hard it was for me to see her again. I settled down in the upper chambers of a large house and feel a happy feeling of renewal.”

As always, even then, high society, uniting together at court and at large balls, was divided into several circles, each with its own shade. Among them, the most extensive was the French circle, the Napoleonic Alliance - Count Rumyantsev and Caulaincourt. In this circle, Helen took one of the most prominent places as soon as she and her husband settled in St. Petersburg. She had gentlemen of the French embassy and a large number of people, known for their intelligence and courtesy, belonging to this direction.
Helen was in Erfurt during the famous meeting of the emperors, and from there she brought these connections with all the Napoleonic sights of Europe. In Erfurt it was a brilliant success. Napoleon himself, noticing her in the theater, said about her: “C"est un superbe animal.” [This is a beautiful animal.] Her success as a beautiful and elegant woman did not surprise Pierre, because over the years she became even more beautiful than before But what surprised him was that during these two years his wife managed to acquire a reputation for herself.
“d"une femme charmante, aussi spirituelle, que belle.” [a charming woman, as smart as she is beautiful.] The famous prince de Ligne [Prince de Ligne] wrote letters to her on eight pages. Bilibin saved his mots [words], to say them for the first time in front of Countess Bezukhova. To be received in the salon of Countess Bezukhova was considered a diploma of intelligence; young people read books before the evening of Helen, so that they would have something to talk about in her salon, and the secretaries of the embassy, ​​and even envoys, confided diplomatic secrets to her, so Helene had strength in some way. Pierre, who knew that she was very stupid, sometimes attended her evenings and dinners, where politics, poetry and philosophy were discussed, with a strange feeling of bewilderment and fear. At these evenings he experienced a similar feeling the kind that a magician must experience, expecting every time that his deception is about to be revealed, but whether because stupidity was precisely what was needed to run such a salon, or because those who were deceived themselves found pleasure in this deception, the deception was not discovered, and the reputation dwindled “une femme charmante et spirituelle was so unshakably established in Elena Vasilievna Bezukhova that she could say the most vulgarities and nonsense, and yet everyone admired her every word and looked for a deep meaning in it, which she herself did not even suspect.
Pierre was exactly the husband that this brilliant, secular woman needed. He was that absent-minded eccentric, the husband of a grand seigneur [great gentleman], not bothering anyone and not only not spoiling the general impression of the high tone of the living room, but, with his opposite to the grace and tact of his wife, serving as an advantageous background for her. During these two years, Pierre, as a result of his constant concentrated occupation with immaterial interests and sincere contempt for everything else, acquired for himself in the company of his wife, who was not interested in him, that tone of indifference, carelessness and benevolence towards everyone, which is not acquired artificially and which therefore inspires involuntary respect . He entered his wife's living room as if he were entering a theatre, he knew everyone, was equally happy with everyone and was equally indifferent to everyone. Sometimes he entered into a conversation that interested him, and then, without consideration of whether les messieurs de l'ambassade [employees at the embassy] were there or not, mumbled his opinions, which were sometimes completely out of tune with the tone of the moment. But the opinion about the eccentric husband de la femme la plus distinguee de Petersbourg [the most remarkable woman in St. Petersburg] was already so established that no one took au serux [seriously] his antics.
Among the many young people who visited Helen’s house every day, Boris Drubetskoy, who was already very successful in the service, was, after Helen’s return from Erfurt, the closest person in the Bezukhovs’ house. Helen called him mon page [my page] and treated him like a child. Her smile towards him was the same as towards everyone else, but sometimes Pierre was unpleasant to see this smile. Boris treated Pierre with special, dignified and sad respect. This shade of respect also worried Pierre. Pierre suffered so painfully three years ago from an insult inflicted on him by his wife that now he saved himself from the possibility of such an insult, firstly by the fact that he was not his wife’s husband, and secondly by the fact that he did not allow himself to suspect.
“No, now having become a bas bleu [bluestocking], she has abandoned her former hobbies forever,” he said to himself. “There was no example of bas bleu having passions of the heart,” he repeated to himself, from nowhere, a rule he had learned, which he undoubtedly believed. But, strangely, the presence of Boris in his wife’s living room (and he was almost constantly) had a physical effect on Pierre: it bound all his limbs, destroyed unconsciousness and freedom of his movements.
“Such a strange antipathy,” thought Pierre, “but before I even really liked him.”
In the eyes of the world, Pierre was a great gentleman, a somewhat blind and funny husband of a famous wife, a smart eccentric who did nothing, but did not harm anyone, a nice and kind fellow. During all this time, a complex and difficult work of internal development took place in Pierre’s soul, which revealed a lot to him and led him to many spiritual doubts and joys.

He continued his diary, and this is what he wrote in it during this time:
“November 24 ro.
“I got up at eight o’clock, read the Holy Scripture, then went to office (Pierre, on the advice of a benefactor, entered the service of one of the committees), returned to dinner, dined alone (the countess has many guests, unpleasant to me), ate and drank in moderation and After lunch I copied plays for my brothers. In the evening I went to the countess and told a funny story about B., and only then did I remember that I shouldn’t have done this when everyone was already laughing loudly.
“I go to bed with a happy and calm spirit. Great Lord, help me to walk in Your paths, 1) to overcome some of the anger - with quietness, slowness, 2) lust - with abstinence and aversion, 3) to move away from vanity, but not to separate myself from a) public affairs, b) from family concerns , c) from friendly relations and d) economic pursuits.”
“November 27th.
“I got up late and woke up and lay on my bed for a long time, indulging in laziness. My God! help me and strengthen me, that I may walk in Your ways. I read Holy Scripture, but without the proper feeling. Brother Urusov came and talked about the vanities of the world. He talked about the new plans of the sovereign. I began to condemn, but I remembered my rules and the words of our benefactor that a true Freemason must be a diligent worker in the state when his participation is required, and a calm contemplator of what he is not called to. My tongue is my enemy. Brothers G.V. and O. visited me, there was a preparatory conversation for the acceptance of a new brother. They entrust me with the duty of a rhetorician. I feel weak and unworthy. Then they started talking about explaining the seven pillars and steps of the temple. 7 sciences, 7 virtues, 7 vices, 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit. Brother O. was very eloquent. In the evening the acceptance took place. The new arrangement of the premises contributed greatly to the splendor of the spectacle. Boris Drubetskoy was accepted. I proposed it, I was the rhetorician. A strange feeling worried me throughout my stay with him in the dark temple. I found in myself a feeling of hatred towards him, which I strive in vain to overcome. And therefore, I would truly like to save him from evil and lead him onto the path of truth, but bad thoughts about him did not leave me. I thought that his purpose in joining the brotherhood was only the desire to get closer to people, to be in favor with those in our lodge. Apart from the grounds that he asked several times whether N. and S. were in our box (to which I could not answer him), except that, according to my observations, he is incapable of feeling respect for our holy Order and is too busy and satisfied with the outer man, so as to desire spiritual improvement, I had no reason to doubt him; but he seemed insincere to me, and all the time when I stood with him eye to eye in the dark temple, it seemed to me that he was smiling contemptuously at my words, and I really wanted to prick his naked chest with the sword that I was holding, pointed at it. . I could not be eloquent and could not sincerely communicate my doubts to the brothers and the great master. Great Architect of nature, help me find the true paths that lead out of the labyrinth of lies.”

Jorge Leal Amado de Faria(Port.-Brazilian Jorge Leal Amado de Faria) - famous Brazilian writer, public and political figure. Academician of the Brazilian Academy of Arts and Letters (1961, chair number 23 of 40).

Born in the hacienda of Aurisidia in the state of Bahia. A year later, due to a smallpox epidemic, his family was forced to move to the city of Ilheus, where Amadou spent his entire childhood. The impressions of this period of his life influenced his future work.

Studied at University of Rio de Janeiro at the Faculty of Law, where he first encountered the communist movement. As an activist of the Brazilian Communist Party, he was repeatedly expelled from the country for political activities. In 1946 he was elected to the National Congress from the Communist Party of Brazil. In 1948 he was again expelled from the country.

In 1948-1952 he lived in France and Czechoslovakia. He visited the USSR several times.

In 1952 he returned to his homeland and began to actively engage in literary creativity.

Creation

He started writing at the age of 14. He made his debut in print in 1931. Social themes predominated in early novels. These include “Carnival Country” (“O país do carnaval”, 1932), “Cocoa” (“Cacau”, 1933), “Jubiaba” (“Jubiabá”, 1935), “Dead Sea” (“Mar morto”, 1936), “Captains of the Sand” (“Capitães da areia”, 1937). In 1942, he published a biography of Luis Carlos Prestes, who was in prison, “The Knight of Hope” (“O Cavaleiro da Esperança”). After World War II, he published the novels “Red Shoots” (1946) and “Freedom Underground” (1952). Since the late 1950s, he introduced fantastic elements into his works and became one of the representatives of magical realism.

Author of the novels “Endless Lands” (“Terras do sem fim”, 1943), “ Gabriela, cloves and cinnamon” (“Gabriela, cravo e canela”, 1958), “Shepherds of the night” (“Os pastores da noite”, 1964), “Dona Flor and her two husbands” (“Dona Flor e seus dois maridos”, 1966), “ Shop of Miracles" ("Tenda dos milagres", 1969, filmed based on Amado's script in 1977 by director Nelson Pereira dos Santos), "Teresa Batista, tired of fighting" ("Teresa Batista, cansada de guerra", 1972), "Ambush" ( "Tocaia grande", 1984) and others.

His works were published many times in the magazine " Foreign literature": story " The Extraordinary Death of Kinkas Perish Water"(1963, No. 5), novels "We Herded the Night" (1966, No. 2, 3), "The Miracle Shop" (1972, No. 2-4), "Teresa Batista, Tired of War" (1975, No. 11, 12 ), “The Return of the Prodigal Daughter” (1980, No. 7-10), “Military jacket, academic uniform, nightgown” (1982, No. 8, 9), “The Disappearance of the Saint” (1990, No. 1, 2); story " The love story of Tabby Cat and Senorita Swallow"(1980, no. 12).

Amadou's novels have been translated into almost 50 languages, including Russian; have been filmed several times. The most famous film adaptation is “Sandpit Generals” (1971, USA), based on the novel “Sand Captains”. In 2011, the same novel was filmed by the writer’s granddaughter Cecilia Amadou. Cecilia's film became the first film adaptation of this book in Brazil, although in total Amado's work has become the literary basis for films and television films more than a dozen times.

Awards and prizes

• member of the SCM
• International Stalin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Between Nations” (1951) and many other international and Brazilian awards
• member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters
• Honorary Doctor of various universities in Brazil, Portugal, Italy, Israel and France, holder of many other titles in almost every country in South America, including the title of Oba de Shango of the Candomblé religion.
• Order of the Legion of Honor (1984)

Family

Children: Lila (1933, died 1949), Joan Georges (1947) and Paloma (1951).