Discovering through the gaps

the essayistic sociology of Roberto Schwarz

Abstract

This paper is a part of an ongoing master’s study dedicated to investigating sociological aspects present in the work of Roberto Schwarz. For most of his career he worked in departments of literary theory, and Schwarz is affiliated to the tradition of dialectical criticism, which sought to interpret the relationship between literary form and social processes. We begin with the premise that many of the research objects that were important to sociological debates in São Paulo in the 1960s and ’70s were also examined by Schwarz. Although instead of accessing them through empirical research, he perceived them as elements present in the literary form. We believe that it is possible to find in Schwarz’s work a unique sociology, since he investigates Brazilian society through aesthetic lenses. Schwarz’s published works are mostly comprised by essays. We will try to reflect on how this form contributes to his thinking and the sociology present in his work. While the essay was the form that the predecessors of Brazilian sociology used to think about the country, our impression is that Schwarz reached the essay through a different path — much closer to the Adornian essay than the already canonized essayistic tradition of interpretation of Brazil. By prioritizing the free experimentation of thinking more than a search for objectivity, we believe that Schwarz’s essayistic reflection can contribute to a reshaping of the way we see sociology in Brazil.