Unsuitable for young people




Leonardo Rocha

    Most Brazilians know Jorge Amado’s work through television or film adaptations. A TV soap opera version of Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon starring Sonia Braga took the country, then under military rule, by storm in 1975. Gabriela was a sexy migrant worker with whom Nacib, a bar owner of Arab origin, falls in love in the small port of Ilheus, in Brazil’s cocoa producing region.
    A year later, Dona Flor hit the cinema screens, telling the story of a young woman who after remarrying continued to go to bed with the spirit of her deceased, debauched husband. The characters were credible - from the local political leaders in their white suits to the pious small town ladies.
    But the cocktail of sex and strong language kept many of Amado’s novels off official school reading lists for decades. My Catholic school in Rio de Janeiro was among those deeming his work unsuitable for young people. But the popularity of his stories meant that by the time he died in 2001, buses loaded with tourists stopped regularly outside his house.
(www.bbc.co.uk)

Responda em português

a) Como os romances de Jorge Amado se popularizaram?

b) Por que motivos muitas escolas excluíram Jorge Amado dos autores a serem lidos?