Commited literature

Abstract

This article calls into question the “politically engaged literature”, which has returned to dominate part of contemporary literature. It examines the historical itinerary and the theoretical assumptions of this tendency, that now is based in the discussion about identity and place of speech, debatable concepts when talking about literature. In this way, through several critics and writers, such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Theodor W. Adorno, Joseph Conrad, Clarice Lispector, Kasereka Kavwahirehi and others, will be reconstituted the differences between the engagement and a vision that values and finds the strength of literature not for its political aspect, but for its works with (in) language. Being capable of expressing feelings, motivations and actions that are common to humanity, literature is a powerful way of bringing people of diverse ethnicities and cultures in contact.