Maiores e menores

Abstract

This volume, the product of observations on the intellectual environment and man of our province, constitutes the study that I called "MAIORES E MENORES". The title means nothing more than a designation for the volume. It does not imply a differentiation of values ​​or a judgment of the merit of those who appear in its pages. The intellectual autonomy of the province is the greatest and most immediate objective that we must achieve. In "Maiores e Menores", which I entrusted to Editora Teone, one of its angles is the position of provincial literature in the concept of national literature. In my opinion, everything that has been written under the label of "national" or "Brazilian", in the literary sphere, to this day, does not represent the reality that exists in our territory. There is a lack of knowledge of the provincial man and land on the part of the "historians" of our literature. And it is against this lack of knowledge that "Maiores e Menores" rises up, calling for a rectification of the concept of "history" that has been adopted until now. As for the removal of the factors that surround the provincial intellectual, I have no doubt that it will be an internal task in which each person will have his or her role, expending the necessary effort for the joint task. It will be the work of a generation, which cannot be other than the new one, the one that is entering the league with more energy, more hope and greater horizons. In this book, the phenomenon of discouragement is appreciated in its natural colors. The new generation must react against this attitude by creating an obligation for the living forces of society to act as dynamos. I have no doubt that the main points of "Maiores e Menores" will be appreciated by those who have a direct participation in the intellectual life of the province because they are precisely those who conspire against our autonomous future. In general, as a whole, this book is a cry of reaction against the conduct of the "cortistas", those big shots who disfigure the true landscape of our literature.