A Paradox of Brazilian Counterculture: The Hemispheric Politics of José Agrippino’s PanAmérica and As Nações Unidas
Abstract
Despite frequent associations with Tropicália, Brazilian writer andmultimedial artist José Agrippino de Paula has received little critical attention incomparison to other alternative artists associated with the cultural movement.Drawing on Christopher Dunn’s exploration of Brazilian counterculture’scontradictory relationship to consumerism and cultural dependence, this articleexamines how Agrippino’s anti-novel PanAmérica (1967) and his originally censoredplay As nações unidas (2019) diverge from his contemporaries’approaches to pan-Latin American identity by ironically appearing to embraceboth consumer culture and the US cultural industry. Viewing Agrippino’s violenteschewal of genre conventions through the prism of cultura marginal, Icontextualize his challenge to contemporary cultural approaches to nationalism before demonstrating how As nações unidas acts as a companion piece toPanAmérica that provides new clues for decoding his timely societal critique.
Copyright (c) 2021 Frans Weiser
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