Literature, Memory and authoritarianism:

an analysis of Bar Don Juan (1971) and A Leste dos Homens (2017)

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the study of the relationship between trauma literature and memory, understanding memory as a relevant historical source for the problematization of the lived experience. As main objects of study, we have the work Bar Don Juan, by Antonio Callado, published in 1971, during the Brazilian dictatorial period, and the work A Leste dos Homens, by Políbio Alves, published in 2017, which presents the horrors experienced by the writer during the period of authoritarianism. We understand that trauma literature, whether in the form of testimonial literature or fictional literature, can be considered an essential element in the representation of struggle, resistance, identity and in the interpretation of the civil-military dictatorship (1964-1985). Literature is an artistic manifestation that maintains several forms of connection with memory, being here considered an important witness source about oppression and forms of resistance to the repressive apparatus of the Brazilian civil-military dictatorship.