Doctrinaire and Writer: Spiritist Criticism and the Work of Fernando do Ó

This article analyzes the criticism of Fernando do Ó’s literary production in the magazine Reformador (1920-1960). We use Pierre Bourdieu’s notion of the religious field and Roger Chartier’s “reading protocols” to discuss the relationship between spiritism and literature, based on the comments on the author’s work. Firstly, we look at his career as a writer and spiritist leader in the city of Santa Maria. Next, we discuss the investment made by Spiritists in the Brazilian publishing, religious, and mediumistic fields. Finally, we analyze the comments and criticism of Fernando do Ó’s books, as part of the management of authors and books related to the spiritist publishing project of the Brazilian Spiritist Federation. We conclude that the Federation’s editorial project mobilized the strategy of publicizing authors and works in order to expand the reading public and standardize mediumistic practices.

Keywords:
Spiritism; Literature; Literary Criticism