Anita M. R. Moraes and Vima Lia R. Martin, university professors, and researchers, have a common interest in African literature and especially poetry. They are scholars on Portuguese-speaking African authors, and both of them unite forces to prepare a poetic anthology addressing Brazil from the point of view of African authors.
The result is being published in the book entitled as Brazil in Portuguese-language African poetry (O Brasil na poesia africana de língua portuguesa). The work reunites 21 Portuguese-language African literature poems that in one way or another refer to Brazil or to Brazilians.
The texts were chosen from eleven poets from Angola, Cape Verde, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, as Ondjaki, João Melo, Vera Duarte, Noémia de Sousa, Luís Carlos Patraquim, and Caetano da Costa Alegre.
All these texts display appreciation and linkage of African artists to Brazil, especially due to their admiration for our literature and music.
FOCUS ON LUSOPHONY
Anita M. R. de Moraes teaches Literature Theory at Fluminense Federal University (UFF). She dedicates her work on studying relations between literature theory to anthropology and literature to ethnography. She analyzed Brazilian novels on the theme of “sertaneja” (backlands), investigating the role of “cangaceiro” (leather-wearing bandits) and “jagunço” (hired gunmen) for her master’s dissertation.
In her doctorate studies, she addressed the theoretical problems involving the critical reception of African novels. From 2008 to 2011, she returned to her research work on Antonio Candido. In her studies, she highlights the book: “O inconsciente teórico: investigando estratégias interpretativas de Terra Sonâmbula, de Mia Couto” (The unconscious theory: investigating interpretive strategies on Mia Couto’s Sleep-walking Earth), published in 2009.
Vima Lia de Rossi Martin holds a Doctorate Degree in Language Arts from the São Paulo University (USP) and teaches Comparative Studies in Portuguese Language Literature at the same institution and is a member of the Support Center for Brazilian-African Research.
She has published books and national and international magazine articles, performs research projects in the field of literature, marginality, and Portuguese language literature teaching.
She is also the author of Portuguese language high school textbooks. She wrote the afterword, as one of her works, for the 2017 edition of the book “Nós matamos o Cão Tinhoso!” (We killed the Dingy Dog”), by Luis Bernardo Honwana from Mozambique.
The book O Brasil na Poesia africana de língua portuguesa (“Brazil in Portuguese-language African poetry”) is a publication by Editora Kapulana, and the price is R$ 34.90