Haroldo de Campos

Sousândrade: The Clandestine Earthquake

Augusto de Campos (b. 1931, São Paulo, Brazil) and Haroldo de Campos (b. 1927; d. 2004, São Paulo) are known worldwide for their radical work on concrete poetry. Very little has been disseminated, however, of their incisive critique, since the early 1950s, of the Brazilian literary tradition. Through essays, books, and interviews, the de Campos brothers have advocated vigorously for a revision of this tradition and the inclusion of authors previously derided by critics and historians as mere aberrations. The rehabilitation of the great Romantic poet Sousândrade (Maranhão, Brazil, 1833 1902) is arguably their most important and lasting contribution in this revisionist program. The following translation is an abridged version of ‘‘Sousândrade: O terremoto clandestino,’’ published in Re-visão de Sousândrade, 3 edition (São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2002).