Todo instante: A ficcao de Joao Almino

Abstract

This article aims at understanding the fictional work of Brazilian contemporary writer Joao Almino. From his first novel, Ideias para onde passar o fim do mundo (1987), to his most recent one, O livro das emocoes (2008), Almino sounds out the legacy of the 1960s, suggesting that its libertarian impulses define a whole generation of Brazilians, who nevertheless see themselves, by the end of the dictatorship, oscillating between a most promising utopia and the helpless failure of all dreams. Such an oscillation shapes most of his characters, who live in a dream-like Brasilia where politics, love and writing form a complex subject. Finally, this article argues that both cinema and photography provide the clues for the understanding of Almino's subtle and sophisticated writing, whose metanarrative features are coupled with a touching lyricism.