Crítica: a arte de espantar a arte e segurar sua sombra

Abstract

This paper intends to ponder over the fragility and inconsistency of the aesthetic judgment, in spite of its appearance of rationalism and scientificism. This reflection starts from a critical text about Henriqueta Lisboa's poetry put into circulation in the web, taken here as the expression of a critical attitude that rests on pretentious truths, on an apparently universal and unchangeable knowledge, like the poor arguments of Monteiro Lobato against Anita Malfatti's yellow man. The legitimate literary criticism must be the result of a deep reflection, of an intense experience with the literary work. Aesthetic judgement, however inevitable, must be done carefully, by means of a close reading, and not through easy suppositions or quick and dubious conclusions. Above all, contemporary critic and reception must give a new look at the literary work, beyond the old critical and theoretical instruments. Maybe this new look doesn't mean to give up the old instruments, but they must necessarily be newly relocated in order that they might not be anymore the means of an absolute way of knowing the work of art.