PEOPLE & CULTURE[01/16/2007 - 11:10]Grandson of Arabs, poet from Porto Alegre
Poet and novelist Carlos Nejar, born and raised in the city of Porto Alegre, is a grandson of Lebanese and Syrians. He was born listening to his grandfather speaking in Arabic and participating in colony parties. Nejar is considered one of the great Brazilian poets. In an interview to ANBA, he discussed the Arab influence on his work.
Isaura Daniel*
São Paulo - The city was Porto Alegre, capital of the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, and the time was the 40s and 50s. A boy called Luiz Carlos paid special attention to his grandfather speaking a different language than the one he heard at school. His grandfather, whose name was Antônio, also read a newspaper that came from afar in a different way: from right to left. His grandfather spoke Arabic. And the newspaper he read was also in Arabic. The boy went to the parties of the Syrian Society and of the Lebanese Society in the capital of the southernmost Brazilian state. And he greatly appreciated the Arab foods prepared by his grandmother, Georgina.
The boy grew up. From Luiz Carlos Verzoni Nejar he became simply Carlos Nejar. He became a poet. And a great one. Carlos Nejar is currently one of the members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, and one of the most renowned Brazilian poets. His childhood was filled with Arab customs, later followed by reading of the literature from the region, which ended up influencing his work. Nejar is a grandson of Syrians and Lebanese. His father, Sady Nejar, was born in Brazil. But his grandfather, Antônio, and his great-grandfather, Miguel, came to Brazil from Syria early last century. Nejar's grandmother, Georgina, was a daughter of Lebanese.
"The food at home was Arab. My grandmother Georgina cooked like a master and was almost a matron, bringing to the table her sons and grandchildren," recalled Nejar. His great-grandfather and grandfather, who came from the Syrian city of Tartús, had a similar trajectory to that of most of the Arabs who arrived in Brazil: they worked in trade. They sold products in the interior of the state of Rio Grande do Sul and also had a shop in Porto Alegre. "I spent my childhood in Porto Alegre," stated Nejar, who currently lives in the city of Guarapari, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Espírito Santo.
Carlos Nejar does not speak Arabic. But he knows the literature well. "I have always admired the originality of this literature," he says. The poet identifies in his own work similarities with Arab works. "Firstly due to the epic tone, with maritime verses. Then to the singing and telling. Then due to the lyric characteristic," he explained. Nejar published, in 1984, through publishing house Record, a book called Gazéis, with songs of love in Arabic. The book was first published in 1983, by a Portuguese publishing house, Moraes Editora.
Some of Nejar's verses have southern Brazilian characteristics, using words that are very characteristic of those born in Rio Grande do Sul. But his poetry speaks about simple aspects of life, like childhood, horses, family, and other more complex topics, like the human soul and death. "I found my soul when I was a child. Innocence, the ark of alliances that was rusted by the rain of the Old Testament. Matured, aged? I found it soluble, busy. We didn't even talk. It was someone I loved greatly. I only stood when I saw it was standing," says one verse of Rain of the Old Testament (Chuva do Velho Testamento).
"Enter death as you enter your home, undressing flesh, putting on your slippers and old pyjamas," is a verse of poem Smoothness (Lisura). "The shoes side by side. I will wear them, loose and huge, and maybe damaged, like two old sailors," says an excerpt of the Sonnet of Quiet Shoes.
Romance and Law
Apart from poetry, Nejar has also published various novels. Most of the books he published, incidentally, are novels. Riopampa, Mill of Suffering (Moinho das Tribulações), was published last year by publishing house Bertrand Brasil. In 2005 he published Well of Miracles (O Poço dos Milagres), a narrative in which various characters try to understand the human soul in a text that ranges from prose to lyricism. Well of Miracles was published by the same publishing house.
Carlos Nejar graduated in Law. The poet worked in various jobs in the legal area, like in prosecution. He also taught Portuguese and literature in schools. Despite his Syrian and Lebanese descent, Nejar has only been to one Arab country: Morocco. He participated in conference "The heritage of Arab culture in Latin-American cultures," promoted by Al Mu'Tamid Ibn Abbad University, in Tangiers, Morocco, in 1989. Nejar is currently aged 67.
*Translated by Mark Ament
The boy grew up. From Luiz Carlos Verzoni Nejar he became simply Carlos Nejar. He became a poet. And a great one. Carlos Nejar is currently one of the members of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, and one of the most renowned Brazilian poets. His childhood was filled with Arab customs, later followed by reading of the literature from the region, which ended up influencing his work. Nejar is a grandson of Syrians and Lebanese. His father, Sady Nejar, was born in Brazil. But his grandfather, Antônio, and his great-grandfather, Miguel, came to Brazil from Syria early last century. Nejar's grandmother, Georgina, was a daughter of Lebanese.
"The food at home was Arab. My grandmother Georgina cooked like a master and was almost a matron, bringing to the table her sons and grandchildren," recalled Nejar. His great-grandfather and grandfather, who came from the Syrian city of Tartús, had a similar trajectory to that of most of the Arabs who arrived in Brazil: they worked in trade. They sold products in the interior of the state of Rio Grande do Sul and also had a shop in Porto Alegre. "I spent my childhood in Porto Alegre," stated Nejar, who currently lives in the city of Guarapari, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Espírito Santo.
Carlos Nejar does not speak Arabic. But he knows the literature well. "I have always admired the originality of this literature," he says. The poet identifies in his own work similarities with Arab works. "Firstly due to the epic tone, with maritime verses. Then to the singing and telling. Then due to the lyric characteristic," he explained. Nejar published, in 1984, through publishing house Record, a book called Gazéis, with songs of love in Arabic. The book was first published in 1983, by a Portuguese publishing house, Moraes Editora.
Some of Nejar's verses have southern Brazilian characteristics, using words that are very characteristic of those born in Rio Grande do Sul. But his poetry speaks about simple aspects of life, like childhood, horses, family, and other more complex topics, like the human soul and death. "I found my soul when I was a child. Innocence, the ark of alliances that was rusted by the rain of the Old Testament. Matured, aged? I found it soluble, busy. We didn't even talk. It was someone I loved greatly. I only stood when I saw it was standing," says one verse of Rain of the Old Testament (Chuva do Velho Testamento).
"Enter death as you enter your home, undressing flesh, putting on your slippers and old pyjamas," is a verse of poem Smoothness (Lisura). "The shoes side by side. I will wear them, loose and huge, and maybe damaged, like two old sailors," says an excerpt of the Sonnet of Quiet Shoes.
Romance and Law
Apart from poetry, Nejar has also published various novels. Most of the books he published, incidentally, are novels. Riopampa, Mill of Suffering (Moinho das Tribulações), was published last year by publishing house Bertrand Brasil. In 2005 he published Well of Miracles (O Poço dos Milagres), a narrative in which various characters try to understand the human soul in a text that ranges from prose to lyricism. Well of Miracles was published by the same publishing house.
Carlos Nejar graduated in Law. The poet worked in various jobs in the legal area, like in prosecution. He also taught Portuguese and literature in schools. Despite his Syrian and Lebanese descent, Nejar has only been to one Arab country: Morocco. He participated in conference "The heritage of Arab culture in Latin-American cultures," promoted by Al Mu'Tamid Ibn Abbad University, in Tangiers, Morocco, in 1989. Nejar is currently aged 67.
*Translated by Mark Ament
FONTE (photo include): http://www.anba.com.br/
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