The Genre
The chronicle is a product of the newspaper, where it appears among ephemeral news. It is a literary genre characterized by its closeness to daily life, both in its themes, linked to everyday life, and in the unpretentious and colloquial language of journalism. More than that, it emerges unexpectedly as a moment of pause for the reader fatigued by the coldness of journalistic objectivity. Limited in length, this pause is characterized precisely by going against the fundamental tendencies of the medium in which it appears, the daily newspaper. If the news must always be objective and impersonal, the chronicle is subjective and personal. If journalistic language must be precise and concise, the chronicle is impressionistic and lyrical. If
the journalist must be methodical and clear, the chronicler usually writes using the method of idle chatter, of topic-leads-to-topic, establishing an atmosphere of intimacy with the reader.
The Work
Rubem Braga's "The Best Short Stories" (1985) are actually 39 chronicles, selected by Professor Davi Arrigucci Jr., which can be divided into:
1. Interior or Cachoeiro do Itapemirim Past - gathering the chronicles in which the narrator lyrically and nostalgically addresses life in the small town, between bird hunts, encounters with city dwellers, street games, fishing trips, friendly dogs, and the abundant vegetation of the almost rural environment:
Tuim criado no dedo
A moça rica
Negócio de menino
Caçada de paca
Praga de menino
Lembrança de Zig
O sino de ouro
O cajueiro
História de pescaria
2. Struggle Against Repression During the Getulista Dictatorship (1936 - 1945) - texts in which old Braga recalls the adventures lived while evading repression during the Estado Novo, always mixing political struggle with sentimental and existential aspects:
Diário de um subversivo
Era uma noite de luar
Os perseguidos
3. Observation of Social Injustices - chronicles focused on the conflict between those who have nothing and the more privileged. Notice the similarity of "Conto de Natal" with Graciliano Ramos' "Vidas Secas," and especially with the "Auto de Natal Pernambucano" which is João Cabral de Melo Neto's "Morte e Vida Severina":
O jovem casal
Noite de chuva
Conto de Natal
4. City or Abroad Cases - texts recounting episodes that happened in the big city, some in a very realistic way and others, like "Marinheiro na rua," with a surreal touch, or, like "O homem da estação," with clear influences from Franz Kafka's expressionism:
Coração de mãe
Marinheiro na rua
O homem da estação
A navegação de casa
O espanhol que morreu
O rei secreto de França
Um braço de mulher
Os amantes
O afogado
As luvas
5. Everyday Conversations - dialogues held by the narrator or other characters, in which the observation of psychological subtleties predominates:
Falamos de carambolas
Aula de inglês
A partilha
Força de vontade
Visita de uma senhora
Do Carmo
6. Moments of Pure Epiphany - although epiphany appears in a nuclear way in many of the texts grouped in other categories, in these it appears in a naked, pure form, being the essence of the texts, which describe unique moments of wonder, of illumination:
Madrugada
O mato
Visão
7. The "Voyeur" Narrator - chronicles in which the narrator observes, as if a "voyeur," the actions of women/girls:
Viúva na praia
A mulher que ia navegar
A primeira mulher do Nunes
Encontro
As meninas
