An intellectual face-off in the land of soccer
By Andrew Downie | Special to The Christian Science Monitor
RIO DE JANEIRO - He may have sold 37 million books and been given audiences
by the pope and Bill Clinton, but Brazilian author Paulo
Coelho has never won the respect of his peers. Now, he is asking his country's
intellectual elites for acceptance.
Mr. Coelho, the New Age writer who won phenomenal success with his novel,
"The Alchemist," is running for election to the Brazilian
Academy of Letters, the 40-chair exclusive club of literary and intellectual
greats. Chairs on the academy become vacant with the passing
of a member.
Wednesday's election is the battle of two opposites: the outsider Coelho
against the establishment's Helio Jaguaribe, a social scientist and
political intellectual who taught at Harvard University and counts Brazil's
president among his best friends.
In a nation where soccer and suntans have always played a more prominent
role than literature, this literary face-off opens an unusual
window on Brazilian society and the tremendous degree of respect given
to academy members. In spite of statistics that show Brazilians
have far fewer libraries than neighbors such as Argentina, and buy one-third
of the number of books bought in France, the election is a hotly
anticipated event.
Membership of the academy confers instant celebrity status, with academicians
appearing on television chat shows and in magazines
such as People. Even those Brazilians who have never read a book in their
lives know and respect those deemed to be "immortal."
"Someone who is elected becomes known across the country," says Ivan Junqueira,
a poet and translator, and the academy's secretary
general. "People point to you and say, 'He is immortal.' I took a taxi
to come [to the academy] once, and I got talking with the taxi driver
about the academy, and when he found out I was a member he refused to take
my money. There is a magic to the academy."
The election is also about whether an institution that prizes intellectuals,
diplomats, and politicians as much as novelists (anyone who has
published a book is eligible) is ready to embrace Coelho, an author many
in the academy see as inferior.
"This election is very important because we are dealing with two very different
candidates," says Mr. Junqueira. "Jaguaribe is one of the
foremost intellectuals in the country. Paulo Coelho has sold [millions
of books]. We have to choose between a political thinker and a
professional writer. The challenge for the academy is the following: Can
we continue to ignore one of the best-known writers in the world."
A former hippy, journalist, and theater director who penned lyrics for
some of Brazil's best-known singers, Coelho is different from the
typical academician, many of whom are septuagenarians.
He started writing novels full time in the 1980s, but only hit the big
time with the publication of his fourth book, "The Alchemist" in 1988.
The
novel has since sold 11 million copies, making it the biggest-selling Brazilian
book of all time. It turned Coelho into a New Age guru.
The acclaim, however, has not been accompanied by respect, at least not
in Brazil. Some members of the academy feel that Coelho's
work is best classed as "literature light" and not worthy of a place in
the pantheon of the country's intellectual and literary heavyweights.
"A lot of people don't like it," says one member, Murilo Melo. "It's esoteric, it appeals to sentiment."
Coelho, who turned down an interview request saying it might jeopardize
his chance of election, has always rejected such assessments
and is pushing hard for recognition.
After registering their candidacy, authors usually contact members to lobby
for their vote. The globe-trotting Coelho has done exactly that,
even canceling travel plans to ensure he is in Brazil during the crucial
weeks leading up to the ballot.
However, the process is complicated by such obscure factors as the candidate's
profession and personal history – election is for life, and
members like to choose someone they know they can get along with. Even
the previous occupant of the chair can affect who sits there
next.
Some seats, for example, confer more status than others. The most notable
is Chair No. 23, the one first occupied by Joaquim Maria
Machado de Assis – widely acknowledged as Brazil's greatest writer – and
more recently by Jorge Amado.
When Mr. Amado died in 2001, Coelho thought about trying for the vacant
position, but he withdrew when it became clear that there was
little chance the members would allow such an esteemed position to fall
to someone whose work they consider intellectually inferior.
Amado's position was eventually filled by his wife, Zelia Gattai, herself
a respected author.
The recent death of Roberto Campos, a senator and intellectual who occupied
Chair No. 25, created another opening, however, and it now
looks as if the academy's 39 members may grudgingly be ready to accept
Coelho into the fold. Of the 28 who have already registered their
votes, 15 have marked an "X" next to his name.
Even those members who are not fans of Coelho's work admit the pressure
may sway them into supporting the man they call "the
magician."
"I read one of his books and it was poorly written," says Junqueira. "[But]
we can't ignore the biggest-selling author Brazil has ever had.
We'll have to elect him one day so it's better to resolve the problem now
and get it over with. I am going to vote for him."