The main authors of the literary movement Realismo in Brazil were Machado de Assis (1839-1908), Raul Pompéia (1863-1895) and Aluísio Azevedo (1857-1913). The latter two and their works are also part of the Naturalism movement.
Machado de Assis
Machado de Assis influences is considered one of the most important writers of Brazilian literature.
His work marks the novel’s innovation and presents refined techniques of short story and chronicle. Born in Rio de Janeiro, mulatto of humble origin, he worked as a civil servant.
He also worked as a typographer and proofreader at a publishing house and began to publish his writings in the Correio Mercantil newspaper.
In 1869 he married Carolina Xavier de Novais, a Portuguese woman who inspired the work Memorial de Aires .
He worked as a journalist, literary critic, theater critic, poet, theatrologist, chronicler, novelist and short story writer.
It was his work, Memória Póstumas de Brás Cubas , published in 1881, that marked the beginning of Realism in Brazil.
He was also the author of Quincas Borba , Dom Casmurro , as well as Esaú and Jacó .
Aluísio Azevedo
Born in São Luís do Maranhão, Aluísio de Azevedo had as a hobby painting, while working in commerce. As an Itamaraty employee, he worked in Spain, England, Argentina and Japan.
His work, O Mulato , published in 1881 is considered the mark of Naturalism in Brazil , although the novel is also part of the Realism movement.
He also published O Cortiço , in 1890, a work that, likewise, is also considered realistic.
Raul Pompéia
Born in Angra dos Reis, in Rio de Janeiro, Raul Pompéia studied law and worked in abolitionist and republican movements.
He worked for the newspaper Gazeta de Notícias where he published the soap opera As Joias da Coroa . He also published Uma Tragédia no Amazonas (1880) and Canções sem Metro (1881).
His most important work, however, is The Athenaeum , published in 1888. Narrated in the first person, the autobiographical novel enshrines him as a writer. Raul Pompeia commits suicide on Christmas night, in 1895.