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HOMAGE PAID TO JOSÉ CARLOS BARCELLOS

In this space, we want to pay homage to José Carlos Barcellos, founding member of the Association, who promoted the dialogue between Literature and Theology in Brazil and Latin America with his work and generous dedication. His early death, on February 14, 2008, left us a void and a legacy: to continue, in his memory, the task that we undertook together in Santiago de Chile, on September 2005.

His life:

José Carlos Barcellos was born in Rio de Janeiro on July 19, 1958. He graduated in the Universidad de San Pablo as bachelor (1982), with a degree (1984) and a PhD (1991) in Letters, specialized in Portuguese Literature, with a thesis about “El héroe problemático en Cerromaior”.

Two years later, in 1993, he graduated in Theology by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Río de Janeiro, where he finished a degree (1996) -with a dissertation on the subject “Literatura e espiritualidade: uma leitura de Jeunes Années, de Julien Green” -, and then, obtained a PhD in Systematic Pastoral Theology (2000) with a thesis entitled: “El drama de la salvación: espacio autobiográfico y experiencia cristiana en Julien Green”, related to the dialogue between Literature and Theology.

            On March 19, 2004, he came into contact with the Permanent Interdisciplinar Seminar of Literature, Aesthetics and Theology, from the Institute of Theological Investigations of the UCA’s Faculty of Theology. Since then, his aim was to gather together the dispersed and isolated efforts done by Brazilian, Chilean and Argentinean colleagues and Institutions in an international association.  He worked hard to create bonds and strengthen links, and on March 2006 he achieved his desire by participating actively in the foundation of the Latin American Association of Literature and Theology (ALALITE) in Río de Janeiro. 

            Even though he suffered from cancer, José Carlos Barcellos continued writing, guiding and encouraging his pupils, dictating classes and participating in examination juries of masters and PhDs until his death.

His person:

Man of bounds, reliable investigator, fair and generous, José Carlos Barcellos knew how to give a vital texture to his thoughts. He assumed with responsibility the mission of giving a foundational impulse to the constitution of the interdisciplinar dialogue between Literature and Theology in Latin America.

He was a thinker of crossroads, who was aware that he was tracing new routes both for Literature sciences and for Theology. In this dialogue, not free from challenges, his mission as an investigator was to reveal the methodological routes traveled since the Second Vatican Council until now. To this job he dedicated his final breath.

Undoubtedly, from now on, anyone who writes about the history of dialogue between Literature and Theology in Latin America would have to recognize in his figure a pioneer and founding landmark.

His PhD Thesis:

It is in his Systematic Pastoral Theology PhD thesis, defended (2000) in the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Río de Janeiro, where José Carlos made his most significant contribution to the interdisciplinary dialogue between Literature and Theology. His multiple academic tasks and his unexpected death impeded its publication in life. Answering his expressed request, Cecilia Avenatti, undertook the mission of publishing it.  For this, she counted on the help of Fundación Porticus and Ediçoes Subiaco (Juiz de Fora- Brasil), María Clara Bingemer’s mediation, and the management of Davina Moscosos’s and her thesis director Conceição Corrêa-Pinto. All of them made possible its posthumous publication, on October 2008.

The most important thing in Green’s work and theologically relevant for José Carlos project is the dramatic condition of men, which from the heart of the secular experience, is moved by a tireless desire of being able to be what he is.

The work made by José Carlos combine, on the one hand, methodological rigor, which favors the meeting between Literature and Theology without making their speakers distort, and on the other hand, a profound sympathy towards spiritual and theological seeks, inscribed in cultural expressions, like in this case, in Julien Green’s autobiographical writing. His work inscribes in a tradition of Latin American theologians who have ventured into this conversation with Literature from Theology.

José Carlos proposes a theological interpretation of literary texts that enables him to go deep into Jesus Gospel, into the saving action of God in good of all human beings. It is a Theology that, without giving up the effort of the concept, wants to specify and unravel, in the light of faith, the human experience said in the poetic and symbolic way of Literature.

The central idea of his work is the proposal of Literature as a non-theoretical way of Theology (in continuity with French theologians Duployé and Jossua), based in the mediating category of drama, which constitutes his own and most genuine contribution.

In this sense, his interpretation of Julien Green’s work is itself a methodological challenge for the interdisciplinary meeting, because it invites us to leave intact the drama that entails every dialogical process. 

In this way, the crossing of both languages benefits each, while Literature reveals to Theology the human and divine deepness in a way other discourses fall silent, Theology, as well, opens literary sciences to the possibility of meeting with the transcendence and the mystery that she had lost.

The work done by José Carlos, which appears posthumous, is an unfinished work that should be continued. His efforts can be today assumed and enriched by sensibilities, thoughts, faith and works of those who continue in this shore of life. Without doubts, it is a work that consolidates the bases that other investigators need to cross the bridge laid between Theology and Literature seeks.

PUBLICATIONS RELATED TO THE INTERDISCIPLINARY DIALOGUE:

1. PUBLISHED BOOKS:

BARCELLOS, J. C. Literatura e espiritualidade: uma leitura de Jeunes Années, de Julien Green. 1ª. ed. Bauru: EDUSC, 2001. v. 1. 133 p.

2. ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN MAGAZINES:

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Literatura y teología: perspectivas teórico-metodológicas en el pensamiento católico contemporáneo. Teología, v. 93, p. 253-270, 2007.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Literatura e teologia em Julien Green. Caderno Seminal, Rio de Janeiro, v. 5, p. 268-276, 2006.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Literatura e espiritualidade: notas introdutórias. Magis: Rio de Janeiro, v. 45, p. 47-56, 2004.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . O claustro (im)possível da Rua dos Douradores: uma leitura teológica do Livro do Desassossego, de Bernardo Soares. Communio, Rio de Janeiro, v. 22, n. 1, p. 239-250, 2004.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Teologia, cultura e literatura no espaço hermenêutico do Renascimento. Religião & cultura, São Paulo, v. 3, n. 6, p. 109-123, 2004.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Espaço autobiográfico e teologia da experiência cristã em Julien Green. Magis, Rio de Janeiro, v. 1, p. 15-27, 2002.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Literatura e teologia: perspectivas teórico-metodológicas no pensamento católico contemporâneo. Numen: Revista de Estudos e Pesquisa da Religião, Juiz de Fora, v. 3, n. 2, p. 9-30, 2000.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Em busca do significado teológico de obras literárias - uma abordagem a partir da hermenêutica. Gragoatá - Revista do Instituto de Letras da UFF, Niterói, v. 8, p. 113-128, 2000.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Poesia e teologia: palavras femininas. Theologica, Braga, v. 34, n. 1, p. 195-207, 1999.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Finitude e transcedência na literatura infail portuguesa. Perspectiva - Revista do Centro de Ciências da Educação, Florianópolis, v. 17, n. 31, p. 157-173, 1999.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Literatura e Teologia -a propósito de obras recentes. Caderno Seminal, São Gonçalo, v. 5, p. 3-12, 1998.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Identidade como destino: autobiografia e teologia em Julien Green. Gragoatá - Revista do Instituto de Letras da UFF, Niterói, v. 3, p. 133-147, 1997.

3. CHAPTERS OF BOOKS:

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Literatura e teologia. In: Édson Fernando de Almeida; Luiz Longuini Neto. (Org.). Teolgia para quê?. 1 ed. Rio de Janeiro: Mauad, 2007, v. , p. 113-128.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Entre Pai e Filho: o cristianismo dilacerado em O Evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo, de José Saramago. In: Benilde Justo Caniato; Elisa Guimarães. (Org.). Linhas e Entrelinhas: homenagem a Nelly Novaes Coelho. 1 ed. São Paulo: Editora Casemiro, 2003, v. , p. 149-153.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Autobiografia e espaço autobiográfico em Julien Green. In: Maria Conceição Monteiro; Tereza Marques de Oliveira Lima. (Org.). Dialogando com culturas: questões de memória e identidade. Niterói: Vício de Leitura, 2003, v. , p. 167-182.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Literatura e teologia: aproximações. In: JORGE, Sílvio Renato. (Org.). Literaturas de abril e outros estudos. Niterói: EDUFF, 2002, v. , p. 89-108.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . A questão da identidade como problema teológico na autobiografia de Julien Green. In: Livia de Freitas Reis. (Org.). Fronteiras do literário. 1 ed. Niterói: Eduff, 1997, v. , p. 129-145.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Descobrimentos portugueses: teologia e literatura. In: Alamir Aquino Corrêa. (Org.). Navengantes dos mares às letras: ideário da navegação na Literatura Portuguesa. 1 ed. Londrina: Editora da UEL, 1997, v. , p. 11-21.

4. WORKS PUBLICHED IN CONGRESS RECORDS:

BARCELLOS, J. C. . A terceira margem da ficção: literatura e teologia em Jorge Luís Borges. In: Primeiro Colóquio Latino-Americano de Literatura e Teologia, 2007, Rio de Janeiro. Actas del Primer Coloquio Latinoamericano de Literatura y Teología. Buenos Aires: ALALITE, 2007.

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Salvación cristiana e imperativo ético en Gil Vicente e Tirso de Molina. In: Segundas Jornadas Diálogos entre Literatura, Estética y Teología, 2007, Buenos Aires. Actas de 2 y 3 Jornadas Diálogos entre Literatura, Estética y Teología. Buenos Aires : Universidad Católica Argentina, 2004. p. 1-10.

5. TECHNICAL WORKS:

BARCELLOS, J. C.. El drama de la salvación: una introducción a la cristolgia de Julien Green. 2000 (Comunicação em Congresso Científico).

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Espaço autobiográfico e teologia da experiência cristã em Julien Green. 2000 (Mesa-redonda).

BARCELLOS, J. C. . Literatura e teologia em Henry James. 2000 (Mesa-redonda).

BARCELLOS, J. C. . A teologia em Os Lusíadas. 2000 (Confrência).

6. POSTHUMOUS PUBLICATIONS:

BARCELLOS, J.C. O drama da salvação. Espaço autobiográfico e experiência Cristã em Julien Green. Edição e prólogo a cargo de Cecilia Avenatti de Palumbo, Apresentação a cargo de Maria da Conceição Corrêa-Pinto, Juiz de Fora: Edições Subiaco, 2008, 319 p.

BARCELLOS, J. C.  Literatura y teología: Teología, v. 96 (2008) p. 289-306.

BARCELLOS, JOSÉ CARLOS (UERJ/UFF) “A terceira margem a ficçao literatura e teologia em Jorge Luís Borges”, en FERRAZ, SALMA (organizadora e compiladora), No princípio era Deus e ele se fez poesia, Editora da Universidade Federal do Acre, 2008, 32-49.

7. POSTHUMOUS HOMAGES:

AVENATTI DE PALUMBO, CECILIA INÉS, Homenaje póstumo a José Carlos Barcellos, Teología, v. 96 (2008), 453-458.

TOUTIN CATALDO, ALBERTO, El legado póstumo de José Carlos Barcellor, Teología, v. 97 (2008), 655-662.

MOSCOSO DE ARAUJO, DAVINA, En honor y memoria de José Carlos Barcellos, en Actas Segundo Coloquio ALALITE, Chile 2008, en CD. Cfr. www.alalite.org

FERRAZ, SALMA (organizadora e compiladora), No princípio era Deus e ele se fez poesia, Dedicatória: “Para José Carlos Barcellos, nosso querido amio Teo-poético in memorium”, Editora da Universidadee Federal do Acre, 2008,