Contemporary brazilian literature and the pandemic in Deus, o que quer de nós?, by Ignácio de Loyola Brandão (2022)

Abstract

This article analyzes Ignácio de Loyola Brandão's novel (2022), Deus, o que quer de nós? which uses the Covid-19 pandemic as its literary theme. The pandemic had a profound impact on society and, consequently, on contemporary literary production, generating a series of works that seek to represent the challenges and transformations caused by this period of global disruption. The narrative reveals the emotional impact of the pandemic on the protagonist narrator due to social isolation and the death of his wife Neluce, highlighting the dilemmas and impasses that extend beyond the individual sphere, because they reflect human vulnerability in times of crisis. The study is based on bibliographic research and a quantitative/qualitative approach, combining interpretive analysis of the work with data collection via a form created on the Google Forms platform. The discussion draws on theoretical and critical contributions from Rosenfeld (1976), Michaud (1989), Resende (2008), Hilário (2013), Aguiar (2021), Birman (2021), among other scholars, in order to support the analysis and situate the novel within the panorama of contemporary literature. The results indicate that the work not only reflects the experience lived by the individual within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, but also reaffirms the role of contemporary Brazilian literature as a space of memory and social critique.

Key words: contemporary brazilian literature; pandemic; Deus, o que quer de nós?; Ignácio de Loyola Brandão.