A SOCIEDADE NA LITERATURA: ANTONIO CANDIDO E A CRÍTICA ESTÉTICA DA ARTE

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the collision between literature and society, especially on the analytical path presented by the Brazilian critic Antonio Candido, namely: the process of structural reduction of the data from social reality. By crossing his work throughout decades of reflections, this path makes explicit an important contribution of the author to literary criticism and has peculiar applicability in literary works of strong social conditioning. Thus, starting from this question, the text presents a set of reflections that are consistent with its relevance for studies concerning literature and society. To achieve this, a bibliographical research was carried out, mainly with the acquisition and reading of publications by Antonio Candido (Literatura e Sociedade/2014, Dialética da malandragem /1970, De cortiço a cortiço/1991), as well as other texts and postulations that corroborate with the objective, such as Candido (2002) and Wellek and Warren (2003). It was observed in this approach, that by moving away from a dichotomy between literary and the data of socio-historical reality, and understanding the process of structural reduction, one can make and conceive an aesthetic criticism of the work.

Keywords: Literature. Society. Critical.