Literary controversies and the difficult recognition of Cruz e Sousa’s poetry

Abstract

The review presents and analyzes the book Cruz e Sousa in Rio de Janeiro press: from Missal to Últimos sonetos (1893-1905) by Alvaro Santos Simões Junior, highlighting the care with which the author reproduces relevant documentation about the Simbolist author’s work and, mainly, the amplitude with which he studies the publication context of his work and its first critical evaluations. The originality of the collected material, the wealth of features that the author mobilizes for the manifestation of Simbolism and the troubled path of the Negro poet who would become its main representative in Brazil draw attention.