The prevalence of the memoir over the novel in narratives about the Brazilian military dictatorship

Abstract

This paper explains the gradual decline of novels about the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985) and the rise of the memoir genre, to such an extent that the latter has become the main historical source for decades, according to the historian Carlos Fico. The memoir narratives are hitherto far more published than novels. Justification for this draws on Merton, Russell, Avelar, and Fico to bring together epistemological, literary, and historical arguments. Carlos Eugênio Paz's Viagem à luta armada (1996) is used as a case study. We suggest that the prevalence of the memoir genre is due to: a) the idea of an "epistemological privilege" regarding those people directly affected by the dictatorship; b) the concern that fiction could mislead the versions of the past taken to be true by different groups. This essay challenges both positions.