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Carneiro, André

Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author, Critic.

(1922-2014) The best known exponent of Brazilian sf since the 1960s and to date Brazil's most widely anthologized author, Carneiro began his career in sf with Diário da nave perdida ["A Lost Ship's Log"] (coll 1963), a collection that reveals Carneiro's stylistic control, sense of humour and his recurrent themes of sexuality, madness and the difficulty of communication. The title story, "Diário da nave perdida", tells of a couple stranded aboard a Spaceship in outer space, who, having run out of the usual Drugs they depend on, regress to their basic fears and desires. In another story, "Zinga, o robô" ["Zinga, the Robot"], a domestic Robot inadvertently upsets a housewife when she learns of the affection her family feels for it, and in "A prostituta" ["The Prostitute"] a confident astronaut finds himself in an awkward encounter with a female Alien. This collection also includes one of Carneiro's most widely anthologized stories, "Escuridão" ["Darkness"], in which all forms of light cease to exist on Earth for weeks on end. Carneiro's second collection, O homem que adivinhava ["The Man Who Could Divine"] (coll 1966), contains another short masterpiece: "A Espingarda" ["The Gun"], a post-nuclear war scenario (see Post-Holocaust) involving the Last Man on Earth. In addition to the title story about a man struggling with his the gift of clairvoyance, the volume contains "O mudo" ["The Mute"], which addresses prejudice, and "O casamento perfeito" ["A Perfect Marriage"] in which Computer-arranged marriage appears to bring nothing but problems for a couple. In 1967, Carneiro published the first scholarly study of science fiction as a genre in Brazil, Introdução ao Estudo da 'Science Fiction' ["Introduction to the Study of Science Fiction"] (1967). Because of censorship and Carneiro's political activism during the military regime in Brazil, his first sf novel, Piscina Livre ["Free Swim"] (1980), did not appear until 1980 although it was written during the 1970s. Both this novel and Amórquia ["Love-Anarchy"] (1991) are sexual Utopias that question the premises of Technology and progress.

Sexual themes permeate many of Carneiro's stories, as seen in "Transplante do cérebro" ["Brain Transplant"] and "Life as an Ant" (both of which have appeared in English translation) and "Meu nome é Go" ["My Name is Go"], in which humans undergo significant transformations or have sexual relations with different species, including Aliens and primates (see Apes as Human). Over the last two decades, Carneiro has published two books of short stories, A máquina de Hyerônimus ["The Machine of Hieronymus"] (coll 1997), which contains a sequel to "A Lost Ship's Log", and the 600-page Confissões do Inexplicável ["Confessions of the Inexplicable"] (coll 2007), Carneiro's magnum opus of contemporary tales of sf, fantasy, and suspense. Among the more interesting stories is the semi-autobiographical novelette, Sem memória ["No Memory"] (2005), in which the protagonist attempts to reconstruct his life during the 1970s, a period of political repression. Other stories explore psychoanalysis (see Psychology), such as "A loucura controlada" ["Controlled Madness"], "Um paciente normal" ["A Normal Patient"] and "Habitar uma formiga" ["Living in an Ant"] (in Confissões do Inexplicável coll 2007), which question concepts of normalcy and morality, while also exploring the difficulty of human Communication. Overall, Carneiro's work has withstood the test of time, and consists of well-written and original works that make him the central figure of Brazil's First Wave of science fiction writers from the 1960s. Carneiro remained active as late as 2013 with another collection, O teorema das letras ["The Theorem of Letters"] (coll 2013). In 2007 he was named Personality of the Year by the editors of the Anuário Brasileiro de Literatura Fantástica ["Brazil's Annual Review of Fantastic Literature"]. [MEG]

André Granja Carneiro

born Atibaia, State of São Paulo, Brazil: 9 May 1922

died Curitiba, Brazil: 4 November 2014

works (selected)

nonfiction

about the author

  • David Lincoln Dunbar. "Unique Motifs in Brazilian Science Fiction" (Tucson, Arizona: University of Arizona, 1976) [nonfiction: PhD Dissertation: pb/]
  • Roberto de Sousa Causo. "A aventura da ficção científica no Brasil" ["The Adventure of Science Fiction in Brazil"] (1998 Ciência hoje vol 24 no 143) [pp78-79: mag/]
  • M Elizabeth Ginway. Brazilian Science Fiction: Cultural Myths and Nationhood in the Land of the Future (Lewisberg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press, 2004) [nonfiction: pp27, 31, 38, 47, 54, 60, 71, 78, 80, 85: hb/]
  • M Elizabeth Ginway. "A Working Model for Analyzing Third World Science Fiction: The Case of Brazil" (November 2005 Science Fiction Studies 32.3) [pp467-494: mag/]
  • Marcello Simão Branco. "Resenha de Sem memória de André Carneiro" ["Review of No Memory by André Carneiro"] in Anuário Brasileiro de Literatura Fantástica 2005: Ficção Científica, fantasia e horror no Brasil (São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil: Hiperespaço, 2006) edited by Cesar Silva and Marcello Simão Branco [nonfiction: pp66-68: pb/]
  • Ramiro Giroldo. "Outra utopia" ["The Other Utopia"] in Volta ao mundo da ficção científica edited by Edgar Cézar Nolasco and Rodolfo Rorato Londero (Campo Grande, Brazil: UFMS, 2007) [nonfiction: anth: pp135-149: pb/]
  • Marcello Simão Branco and Cesar Silva. "André Carneiro: Personalidade do Ano" ["André Carneiro: Personality of the Year"] in Anuário Brasileiro de Literatura Fantástica 2007: Ficção Científica, fantasia e horror no Brasil (São Paulo, Brazil: Tarja, 2008) edited by Cesar Silva and Marcello Simão Branco [nonfiction: anth: pp108-126: pb/]
  • Ramiro Giroldo. "A ditadura do prazer: ficção científica e literatura utópica em Amorquia de André Carneiro" ["The Dictatorship of Pleasure: Science Fiction and Utopian Literature in André Carneiro's Amorquia"] (Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, 2008) [MA Thesis: binding unknown/]
  • Marcello Simão Branco. "Resenha de Confissões do Inexplicável" ["Review of Confessions of the Inexplicable"] in Anuário Brasileiro de Literatura Fantástica 2007: Ficção Científica, fantasia e horror no Brasil (São Paulo, Brazil: Tarja, 2008) edited by Cesar Silva and Marcello Simão Branco [nonfiction: pp 55-64: pb/]
  • Marcello Simão Branco. "Resenha de O homem que Adivinhava" ["Review of O homem que adivinhava"] in Anuário Brasileiro de Literatura Fantástica 2011: Ficção Científica, fantasia e horror no Brasil (São Paulo, Brazil: Devir, 2012) edited by Cesar Silva and Marcello Simão Branco [nonfiction: anth: pp161-163: pb/]

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