Saints and scoundrels

"Saints and Scoundrels" is a thought-provoking book about Brazil. Based on the work of Nelson Rodrigues, particularly his theater, Adriana Facina conducted fascinating research focusing on the author's plays, among other themes, the problems of the city and the family.

To this end, Adriana immersed herself in Rodrigues's universe, conducting interviews, and scouring nearly everything written about this great writer. She shows how, by dealing with transgressions, taboos, and deviations, Nelson Rodrigues became the focus of controversy, sometimes quite violent. Thus, Adriana strives to situate Nelson Rodrigues within the intellectual landscape of his time without reducing the meaning of his work to mechanical and linear sociological explanations.

In developing her work, the author analyzes Nelson Rodrigues's vision of the city, particularly Rio de Janeiro. This is a significant contribution to Urban Anthropology, presenting the significant paths, areas, and maps in the work under review. Regarding the theme of family and kinship, she draws connections between the playwright and his fellow Pernambuco native, Gilberto Freyre. This connection between the two writers, one through his theater and the other through his sociology, constitutes a rich and original contribution to the history of Brazilian literature and social thought. The issue of incest is undoubtedly a central focus of the broader theme, illuminating the complex relationships between generations and genders.

Certainly, one of the most fascinating aspects of Nelson Rodrigues' work, particularly his theater, is its relationship to the nature of evil and sin. Adriana Facina not only points to this but also develops an important reflection, demonstrating the Romantic dimension and its dramatic ambiguities regarding the themes of love, so prominently present in the plays examined. In this way, besides situating Nelson Rodrigues within the panorama of Brazilian culture, she builds bridges to a more universal and comprehensive issue.

Therefore, Santos e canalhas is a book of interest not only to Rodriguians but to all readers concerned with the complex relationships between Literature and Society and with an Anthropology of Complex Societies.

- Gilberto Velho, Full Professor and Dean of the Department of Anthropology at the National Museum/UFRJ