Seeds of Life and Seeds of Death
Reading Raymond Williams from Brazil
From Planet 244
by Maria Elisa Cevasco
Maria Elisa Cevasco gives an insight into the resonance of Raymond Williams’ work for her students in Bolsonaro’s Brazil, and why his notions of the ‘long revolution’ are so relevant today. She introduces the work of Brazilian scholar Antonio Candido, and argues why we should consider his work in parallel with Williams’.
I think it is safe to say that Raymond Williams is well-known in academic circles in Brazil. A significant number of his books have been translated into Portuguese. I myself wrote a book-length study of his work, Para Ler Raymond Williams (To Read Raymond Williams), first published in 2001, and translated into Spanish in 2003. His centenary this year has been celebrated in Brazil, with many academic events, such as roundtables, conferences and the publication of article collections. In this piece, I want to remember ‘my’ Williams, and to briefly draw the parallels between his trajectory and Antonio Candido’s, a central figure in Brazilian cultural criticism.
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