On Jorge Amado's Brazilian Socialist Realism

In this article we interpret Jorge Amado's early work as a privileged example of Brazilian socialist realism. We argue that it is characterized by a mixture of negativity in the description of social oppression and positivity in the redeeming essence of the popular. To explain the former,we discuss Amado's exploration of the world of the poor, his colloquial style, and vivid depiction of capitalist domination; as for the latter, we approach a transcendent investment in the people, the hero, and the party. The concluding claim is that this combination generates a Brazilian mythology that helps to account for Amado's turn in his post-communist writing.