A member of one of the first groups of teachers at the Institute of Language Studies (IEL) at Unicamp, professor Antonio Arnoni Prado died this Sunday (11) at the age of 79. Retired professor of the Department of Literary Theory at IEL, Arnoni is considered one of the most respected intellectuals in the country. He was treating a brain tumor, a disease due to which he had to undergo three surgeries – the last of which was last year. The body was laid to rest for around three hours on Monday morning (12) in Paulínia (SP) and, in the middle of the afternoon, it was taken to be cremated in the city of Itatiba (SP). Born in São Paulo in 1943, Arnoni leaves two children – Ricardo and Mariana. IEL distributed a note of condolence. “We express our deep regret to family and friends for their loss, wishing them strength in this time of mourning”, says the note from the Institute’s management.
Arnoni had a master's degree and doctorate from the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences (USP), with a postdoctoral degree at the Fondazione Feltrinelli, in Milan (1986). He joined the Department of Literary Theory at Unicamp in 1979, where he was a full professor until 2012, when he retired.
Among his most important works are the edition of Sérgio Buarque de Holanda's dispersed literary criticism and the publication of a collection of critical essays gathered in “Trincheira, stage and letters”. He also published “Itinerary of a false vanguard: the dissidents, the Week of 22 and Integralism”, in 2010, which won the Mário de Andrade Prize from the National Library Foundation. He also organized “Lima Barreto: a literary autobiography” (2012) and wrote “Two literates and Brazil nation” (2015), which won the Rio Literature Prize in the essay category.
Arnoni is part of IEL's history. He arrived at Unicamp in the late 1970s, at the hands of professor Antonio Candido – founder of the Institute of which he was also director, chosen by Zeferino Vaz. A former student of Candido, Antonio Arnoni joined the initial IEL group, formed by João Lafetá, Berta Waldman, Vera Chalmers, Suzi Sperber, Edda Arzua Ferreira, José Miguel Wisnik and Adélia Bezerra de Meneses.
In the second wave of teachers brought by Candido, in addition to Arnoni, came Roberto Schwarz and Marisa Lajolo. Next, Alexandre Eulálio, Modesto Carone, Luiz Dantas, Iumna Maria Simon, Maria Eugenia Boaventura were brought in, according to the records of “The Department of Literary Theory and Comparative Literature: beginnings”, by Adélia Bezerra de Meneses. “Arnoni was a scholar – one of those who liked to visit libraries; a great researcher”, said professor Alcir Pécora, Arnoni’s colleague at IEL. “He was the one who discovered, for example, unpublished works by Sérgio Buarque. He was extremely important in criticizing anarchism; he raised material about Oliveira Lima [Manuel de Oliveira Lima, author of 'D. João VI in Brazil' (1908)]”, stated Pécora.
According to him, Arnoni was a worker, especially in themes associated with social literature. “He had a great, varied interest in things. He was a scholar. Few knew literary criticism like he did”, he says. Professor Pécora also highlights the importance of Arnoni for IEL. “He was a cordial person, an affectionate colleague, with intense personal relationships”, he states. “For the department, it meant the presence of Antonio Candido’s legacy,” he summarized.
“He was one of those people we don’t forget,” said professor Raquel Salek Fiadi, from the Department of Applied Linguistics. “In addition to being a great intellectual, she was a good person to live with,” she adds. “Although we didn't have a very close relationship, because we worked in different departments, he was a colleague who I admired a lot. It was brilliant,” she says. According to her, in addition to being a great researcher, Arnoni also enjoyed teaching and interacting with students.
“What remains for us is 'seo' Antonio. A giant heart and a loving father”, said his son, Ricardo. “A man who never valued money, who traveled and read a lot. He brought boxes of books from each of his trips. In other words, in these last years, he did what he has always done throughout his life: he read and studied a lot,” said his son.
Reinvent
In an interview with Journal of Unicamp In 2015, when two books were released (“Two literates and Brazil nation – The critical work of Oliveira Lima and Sérgio Buarque de Holanda” and “Scenario with portraits – Sketches and profiles”), Arnoni spoke about the role of literary criticism nowadays and warned that it was necessary to reinvent it. “Where is the criticism today? One of the unique moments in the discussion of these two books perhaps occurred in the debate here at Unicamp. There is specifically no dialogue between criticism and current production, one step at a time. Newspaper culture sections today cover rock bands, singers, painters, etc. You no longer have an authoritative name in literary criticism writing in the newspapers. The remaining space is at the university. This is the place”, said the intellectual.
Read more:
Antonio Arnoni Prado, the observer of the invisible
Antonio Arnoni Prado is honored at IEL
