XVII Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association

Prize Culture and the Economy of Prestige in Brazilian Literature

• In Event: Recasting Brazilian and World Literature Perspectives I

Abstract

This presentation examines how the Camões and the Oceanos literary prizes contribute to understandings of Brazilian literature’s global profile. These prizes generate their own cultures of ceremonies, lectures, and marketing materials and, in turn, propagate what James English has described as “the economy of prestige.” As part of these cultures and economies of prestige, literary awards have proliferated in recent decades with prizes offered at city, regional, state, and national levels and sponsored by governments, publishers, non-profit organizations, and cultural institutions. In this vast landscape of literary recognition, the Camões and Oceanos Prizes stand apart for their commitment to honoring literary achievements in the Portuguese language by writers from any member of the CPLP. The juries and governing boards strive to honor diversity, yet inevitably encounter difficulties when comparatively assessing writers and texts from across the CPLP. Though the two prizes share a multinational approach to Lusophone literature and a commitment to excellence, their aims differ slightly. Awarded since 1988, the Camões Prize, like the Nobel, recognizes lifetime achievement of a living Portuguese-language author. Created in 2003, the Oceanos Prize grants its awards for books published in Portuguese in a specific year, akin to the English-language Man Booker Prize. By tracing which authors and texts have received these prizes since their inauguration, I analyze the contradictions and complexities of evaluating global Portuguese literatures in a comparative framework.

Author

• Krista Brune, Pennsylvania State University