Roberto Schwarz's critical theory: summary presentation

Abstract

The essay presents an introduction, in which the intellectual formation of Roberto Schwarz in the early 1960s is located, highlighting the influence of Theodor Adorno, Antonio Candido and the study group on Marx. Then, the main ideas and methodological aspects elaborated in the so called Marx Seminar and later assumed by Schwarz are examined, among which stand out: a) a new dialectical concept on progress; b) a dialectical analysis of the relationship between Brazil and the international scene, in which the terms clarified respectively; c) the formation of capitalism in Brazil would present a singularity, not repeating the history of the developed countries, among other ideas.  In the same way, the conception of literary form elaborated by Antonio Candido is examined, which would be rigorously assumed by Schwarz. Next item analyzes part of the intellectual production of Schwarz, highlighting his analysis of Machado de Assis’s work, while the Brazilian literary process is understood in relation to the present of global capitalism; in this movement is also critically delineated the meaning of the civil military coup imposed to the country in 1964. Next, his analyses of the country's social and cultural process are highlighted, especially in the period marked by national-developmentalism, which was abruptly interrupted in 1964. Finally, the essay "End of the Century" (“Fim de século”) is analyzed, in which Schwarz elaborates an interpretation of the period inaugurated by the end of the aforementioned national-developmentalism, which would be marked by a unified logic of the movement of capital on a global scale, but which would affect the countries with lagging industrialization in such a way as to cause the emergence of a logic of social disintegration. Lastly, some of the literary or film works that have critically elaborated on this situation are mentioned.