It is impossible to think about literature made in Rio de Janeiro without remembering the writers, chroniclers, critics, and journalists João do Rio and Lima Barreto. Both were unique in their time in making the city a fundamental character in their stories.
Paulo Barreto began his career as a journalist in 1900. Three years later, he went to work at the Gazeta de Notícias. That same year, he created his most famous pseudonym, turning the city's name into his surname: João do Rio. He was one of the pioneers of a type of investigative journalism that ventures into different spaces and social classes to present them in accounts with a literary tone.
In 1905, one of his first popular works came out in the Gazeta: Religiões do Rio, a series of reports that approached, from an exotic point of view, the various popular cults of African origin that populated the "Pequena África" region - around Praça Onze and Cidade Nova. Still between 1904 and 1905, João do Rio published his Momento Literário in the same newspaper, a series of reports featuring the greatest personalities of Brazilian literature - at least, from his point of view. In 1907, the series was released as a book by Livraria Garnier.
Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a man. He is wearing a straw hat with a black band, a checkered blazer, and a white shirt with a tie. The background is dark, possibly a wall or curtain. The man's right hand is raised, apparently holding something.Retrato de João do Rio em 1921- Imagem retirada da Enciclopédia Itaú Cultural
The enchanting soul of the streets, his most famous volume, was published in 1908. In its pages, it depicted everything from the underworld of opium houses, tattoo artists and lives in prison to the simplicity of coachmen, book merchants and the small urban trades.
His chronicles – many also written under other pseudonyms – dealt with the city's nightlife and worldly life, popular plays and theaters, bars and cafés, fashion, cinema, and other novelties of the period. His fame as a writer, playwright, translator, and chronicler earned Paulo Barreto both the transgressive mark of a dandy style and a seat in the conservative Brazilian Academy of Letters, in 1910. When he died, as a result of a massive heart attack in 1921, his funeral was attended by thousands of people.
Image description: The image is a black-and-white photograph of a funeral. In the upper part, we see a dense crowd packed together on a street, with many people wearing hats. Buildings and trees can be seen in the background. In the lower part, there is a large building, in front of which a large crowd has gathered.Milhares de pessoas acompanharam o cortejo no dia do enterro de João do Rio, em 26 de junho de 1921 - Acervo Biblioteca Nacional
At the opposite end of Rio's literary scene stands the name Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto. A resident of the suburb of Todos os Santos, Black and of humble origin, Lima Barreto became a dissonant voice in the First Republic, bitterly commenting on the affected, class-driven habits of the political and intellectual elite who inhabited the city.
Image description: This is an old black-and-white photograph of a group of people posing for a picture in a park or green area. In the front, several men are seated wearing suits and vests, some with ties. They are arranged in three rows, with those closest positioned in front and those behind seated on a higher level. In the center, one individual is highlighted by a red circle, followed by another red circle marking another person. In the background, other men are standing, also in suits, watching the photo being taken.Lima Barreto junto à turma da Escola Politécnica, da qual foi estudante. Fotógrafo não identificado. Acervo Biblioteca Brasiliana Guita e José Mindlin – imagem com zoom retirada de Buzzfeed
Just like João do Rio, Lima Barreto began his literary career at the city's magazines and newspapers. Early on, in one of his first jobs, the writer had to cover the partial demolition of the Morro do Castelo hill for the prestigious Correio da Manhã.
As the journalist narrated the events surrounding Pereira Passos's grand project, the fiction writer began crafting a fantastical plot to tell a legend about a treasure hidden beneath the hill by the Jesuits, expelled from the city by the Marquis of Pombal.
Written anonymously, the series of reports blending journalism and fiction marked Lima Barreto's style, always making the city of Rio a literary space.
Image description: This is a black-and-white photograph of a seated man. He is wearing a suit with a shirt and tie. His pose is relaxed, with his arms resting on his knees. In the background, a tree is partially visible.O escritor Lima Barreto. Acervo Biblioteca Brasiliana Guita e José Mindlin
As a chronicler for numerous outlets, his wit commented on the radical transformation the city was undergoing at that time. Sparing no words against important institutions linked to the Republican State, his novels – pioneers of a carioca, urban language – did not achieve the success they would have after his premature death, in 1922.
Although well known in the city's literary circles, he was seen more often in bars and beer halls, gradually became an alcoholic, and faced serious hardships toward the end of his life. Despite this, his name and his work defined the opening of a critical carioca literature, one that still echoes in contemporary writers to this day.
