To Father and to brothers: attempts of interlocution in Murilo Mendes

Abstract

This article seeks to examine the uses of address in Murilo Mendes' poetry, with regard to the mobilization of the reader regarding the historical situation experienced by the poet. Two poems were chosen to illustrate the discussion. One of them involves God in the interlocution, while, in the other, the lyrical voice addresses the reader. A relationship is observed between the religious themes of the poems and a political purpose, motivating the poet's exposition of an unsustainable and urgent state of affairs. However, the article also addresses the lapses in communication produced by the use of address in poetry, which can be productive for its comprehensiveness of meaning. Thus, it is concluded that the poems analyzed, although they seem to refer to the global situation witnessed by Murilo Mendes, allow for other interpretations, which do not necessarily refer to the first half of the 20th century. The abstract and existential language used by the poet facilitates such semantic expansion. The work was written based on bibliographic research and analysis of the selected corpus.