Due to the sharing of the same critical-methodological apparatus, the names of Antonio Candido and Roberto Schwarz are commonly associated. In this article, I intend to examine the tensions and discontinuities, frequently omitted, between those two intellectual projects. I argue that their views on Brazilian modernity are substantially divergent. Whereas Candido exhibits an optimistic tone vis-à-vis the transforming potentialities of the Brazilian people, Schwarz presents a more pessimistic interpretation about the Brazilian social (de)formation. I analyze how these divergent interpretations support the critical-historiographic project of these two authors.
Antonio Candido; Roberto Schwarz; modernity; Brazilian criticism