[a concrete visual
pseudonym]

The following excerpt was taken from chapter three ["'Poesia Marginal'
and the 'Geração Mimeógrafo': Literary 'Revistas' against Military
Dictatorship"] of Butterman's thesis [1], focusing on Mattoso's
performative identity:


GLAUCOMA(T)TOSO AND
PERFORMATIVE PERVERSITY

Pseudonymity, Bataille later claimed, 'is the transgression of all
language.' It is this transgression, this paradoxical strategy in which
the author silences himself, which structures Bataille's oeuvre. Because
it is written pseudonymously, his work constitutes the presence of an
author who is absent; it loses its point of reference and unravels [...]
between writing (authorial intentionality) and silence (into which the
author has slipped). Writing, in this sense, is a form of
self-mutilation, a slip of the pen in which the author effaces himself
while remaining present. And insofar as the author remains an
ever-elusive presence he is metaphorically speaking, mutilated (C.J.
Dean 233).

Clearly, the pseudonym,"Glauco Mattoso" is a pun, in which the identity
of one who has glaucoma – that is glaucomatose – is assumed, just as
in Portuguese, one afflicted with tuberculosis (the disease
"tuberculose") is "tuberculoso." The additional "t" in Mattoso adheres
to the archaic Portuguese spelling, resonating a linguistic
configuration far closer to the Latin origins of the language. This
spelling fits in with Mattoso's classical sonnets where, as we shall
see, he demonstrates an extreme rigor of form in his strict obedience to
the decasyllabic "soneto heróico" typical of Luís de Camões' best
verses. Indeed, in the majority of Mattoso's earliest poems, the reader
is treated to a Latinized Portuguese. The result is a carefully worked
and reworked verse, where erudite vocabulary and structures almost
emulate the preciosity of Parnassian aesthetics. This is evident, for
example, in "Kaleidoscopio" (1974), the poet's first published poem, a
foundational work that seems to serve a therapeutic purpose in both the
acceptance of his impending blindness and the assuming of a poetic voice
where consciousness of visual impairment slowly becomes a significant
part of his literary project:


KALEIDOSCOPIO [1.1] [1974]

Relendo cartas com olho unico.
Delenda Carthago com olho punico.
Lenda escripta com olho runico.
Lente elliptica com olho conico.
Mente espirita com olho cynico.
Demente hysterica com olho clinico.
Semente hermetica com olho cyclico.
Serpente heretica com olho biblico.
Sentença enclitica com olho obliquo.
Substancia lithica com olho liquido.
Sciencia critica com olho logico.
Verdecencia cryptica com olho glauco.
Experiencia optica com olho cego.

(JORNAL DOBRABIL 12)


The image of a kaleidoscope is one that has fascinated artists since its
invention in 1816. [2] In Mattoso's poetic rendering of it, each word,
while similar to a version that precedes or follows it, is never
identical. The only two words that serve as constants in the poem are
"com" and "olho." As such, "com olho" constitutes the axis of the poem,
which is horizontally divided into two separate halves. On the left side
of the axis, we find a series of words which are progressively modified,
where syllables often result in phonetic similarities with the preceding
phrases but where semantic differences are vast. Reading the first word
of the initial verses, for example, reveals a gradual evolution from
enhanced phonetic similarity to an ultimately more divergent end result.
In other words, the process of transformation evident in "Delenda" to
"Lenda" to "Lente" to "Mente," and so on, is not a significant leap,
with only subtle sonorous changes taking place. However, when the reader
compares the first word of the initial verse with the first word of the
final verse, the discrepancy is far more severe: "Relendo" and
"Experiência" barely relate to one another semantically let alone
phonetically. A similar process of modification occurs with the
adjectives appearing on the right side of the axis: from "unico" to
"punico" to runico" and eventually "cego," once the adjective has
undergone complete transformation.

There is another set of relationships in this poem, one that playfully
evokes a kaleidoscopic effect. "Delenda Carthago" was a Latin phrase of
Roman solidarity, calling for the destruction of the nation of Carthage,
Rome's principal enemy. The three sets of battles that ensued between
Rome and Carthage were known as the Punic Wars. [3] In each verse, then,
as the first one illustrates, there is a connection between the first
and the last words. Other examples abound: "lente elliptica com olho
conico" introduces the realm of geometry; "lente" may be indicative of
the lens through which the kaleidoscope is viewed. Of course, "lente"
may also refer to the actual lens of the eye. A contradictory
philosophical posture is exemplified in "Mente espirita com olho
cynico," for cynicism and spiritualism are two very distinct modes of
philosophical thought. "Semente hermetica" alludes to the physical, the
material world, while "serpente heretica" recalls religion and,
specifically, the Old Testament. "Sentença enclitica com olho obliquo"
refers to grammatical conceptions: enclisis is the positioning of an
indirect pronoun in the middle of – or following – a verbal
conjugation (e.g., "dir-lhe-á," in contemporary Brazilian Portuguese, is
often reduced to "ele / ela dirá a você"). "Obliquo" also defines
indirect object pronouns employed as complements that replace the
emphatic form; e.g., "a mim" expressed, simply and less emphatically, as
"me." "Substancia lithica com olho liquido" alludes to chemical or
physical states of being. "Litico" is indicative of a solid state and
this is contrasted with the liquid substance. A mathematical formulation
or a preoccupation with precision is conveyed by "Sciencia critica com
olho logico."

The final two verses are fundamental, for they illustrate a gradual
transformation to blindness – both as a physical manifestation and as a
metaphysical awareness of its inevitability: "Verdecencia cryptica com
olho glauco" is the identity that the poetic voice has assumed in 1974:
the color "green" is etymologically derived from the Greek "glauco" or
"glaucos." [4] According to the poet, the eye that has been completely
affected by glaucoma takes on a greenish hue. "Cryptico" seems to
indicate that the "greenness" that represents glaucoma is hidden, that
the reality of glaucoma is being covered up by the possession of partial
sight. [5] Yet this consolation is merely an illusion. Such a masking of
the inevitable degeneration to come is fleeting, for the reality of
progressive blindness is an insidious one, a fate difficult to confront
but one that can only be denied temporarily. The concluding verse of the
poem is the most revealing: "Experiencia optica com olho cego," may be
read in at least two distinct ways.

On the most literal level, it is perhaps a lamentation of having
suffered in vain unsuccessful operations, as if the patient were
condemned to perform the role of guinea pig in a scientific experiment.
In addition, the futility of the surgery (or surgeries) is emphasized
(perhaps even foreshadowed) with the finality and therefore implied
irreversibility of the "olho cego". The biographical fact that the
author underwent seven separate surgeries during an extended period of
over thirty-five years (from 1959 to 1995) cannot be ignored as we
contemplate the frustration resonating in this poem. The prophetic
blindness exemplified in this early poem ultimately leads to a poetic
voice whose verses reflect significant existential anguish. An identity
that is only partially revealed in this serious poem, "Kaleidoscopio"
marks the birth of Pedro José Ferreira da Silva's pseudonym "Glauco
Mattoso."

The title "Kaleidoscopio" reflects the visual and sonorous
experimentation with form and meaning that would later become a hallmark
of Mattoso's best poems. The image of the kaleidoscope also alludes to
the author's partial blindness at the time he wrote this piece, for a
kaleidoscope is typically viewed by covering up one eye – therefore
disabling it – while focusing on the changing configurations of colors
and designs with just one eye. The kaleidoscope has also been
appropriated to metaphorize poststructuralist conceptions of the ludic
multiplicity of meanings and forms. Robert R. Wilson, in his article,
"Play, Transgression and Carnival," utilizes the image of the
kaleidoscope to reflect the versatility and infinite variation in
transgressive creativity:


[Within the discourse of "ludisme," an appropriate metaphor for play, or
for the freeplay of signification, always transgressive, might be that
of a kaleidoscope: an endless linear series of permutations, each
spectacular in itself, each different, with no potential for correction,
enhancement, or culmination.] (84-5)


Such a ludic quality rapidly becomes constitutive of Glauco Mattoso's
developing poetic voice, as we shall see in the remaining chapters of
the dissertation. If one factor remains constant in the poetic universe
of Glauco Mattoso, it is the playful and yet increasingly cynical quest
for radical, multiple significations of the images that the poet molds
and shapes to constantly energize the text, subverting rational or
monolithic interpretations.

As Mattoso begins to solidify his assumed pseudonym, the references to
his own visual deficiency become increasingly more hermetic until four
years after the onset of total blindness. CENTOPÉIA: SONETOS NOJENTOS &
QUEJANDOS, written twenty-five years after "Kaleidoscopio," marks the
first in a trilogy of works written after a ten-year poetic silence.
These sonnets, published in 1999, will be thoroughly examined in chapter
five. What I would like to highlight, at this point, is how the author's
early work reflects a gradual evolution in an awareness of his own
progressive blindness. The concrete and therefore highly visual poem,
"Portrait of the Young Man as an Artist," published in 1977, inverts the
title to a masterpiece of fiction written by James Joyce, himself a
victim of glaucoma:


PORTRAIT OF THE YOUNG MAN AS AN ARTIST [16.24] [1977]


  U N W A N T E D
L U N W A N T E D     I V E
  O N W A N T E D
  U B W A N T E D
  U N O A N T E D
  U N D - N T E D
  U N D E C T E D
  U N D     E A D
            O R
  U N A L I     V E
  U N             A L I V E
  U N A             L I V E


As part of the invention of his own artistic identity (or perhaps
non-identity), Mattoso subverts the traditional FBI "Wanted: Dead or
Alive" slogan and reconfigures it to read: "Un-wanted, un-dead, or
un-alive." The negation is total: not alive, not dead, not sought after.
Curiously, a diagonal reading of the poem reveals the word,
"lobo-cerval" or "lynx," a feline that possesses extraordinarily acute
powers of sight. The expressions, "unwanted and undead," seem to refer
to a complete lack of volition, a self-distancing from the world, and
even more profoundly, the notion that the poet cannot be found simply
because he does not exist. Mattoso, in one of our interviews, commented
on his intentions for this highly hermetic poem, alluding specifically
to his own visual deficiency:


[Eu estava fazendo um auto-retrato, na verdade, estava me retratando. É
um poema muito hermético, apenas para ter um efeito visual concreto. Por
isso que é joyciano. O Joyce também fazia muitas alusões herméticas que
só ele entendia, que só diziam respeito a ele, e ele estava pouco se
importando se alguém decifrasse ou não.]


Mattoso clearly defends the poet's liberty to conceive and publish a
"private" poem, one whose full essence or meaning is revealed only to
the author of its verses. However, cryptic significations aside, one
cannot deny the poignant alienation and painful rejection implied by the
lack of any "search" for the poetic voice, regardless of his condition.

Another important facet in the construction of Mattoso's poetic voice,
in addition to the anguish and suffering described above, is the coping
mechanism he skillfully cultivates, one that enables him to laugh at the
traumas and tragedies of his life, to engage in self-deprecating humor
and ironize his triple-minority status: an openly non-straight man (for
he rarely self-identifies as gay and often as bisexual), with a severe
and degenerative congenital disease and an irrepressible fetish for
masculine feet and boots. The serious yet playful poems analyzed above
are foundational pieces for the identity that Glauco Mattoso continues
to build upon in his poetic career. His rationale for assuming the
identity of his own illness surfaced quickly in one of our early
interviews:


[Aquele nome já era um nome artístico que iria fatalmente me acompanhar
pelo resto da vida. Quando o criei, eu tinha noção de que estava
brincando com algo muito sério, com uma desgraça, e que isso talvez
pudesse ser um estigma. Mas, como eu tinha certeza de que o estigma já
tinha nascido comigo, então eu não estava fazendo nada mais do que
batizá-lo.]


In the JORNAL DOBRABIL (1977-81), the author begins to reconceptualize
diverse elements within his pseudonym and self-divides into various
heteronyms. [6] He selects Pedro o Podre to assume the role of his
alter-ego, his most irreverent and boisterous heteronym, to give a
complete characterization of "Glauco Mattoso." [7] In response to a
letter written by Yan de Almeida Prado, a reader of the "newspaper"
desiring to know "quem é esse Glauco Maluco, ou Louco Mattoso?" Pedro o
Podre writes what has since become a defining anecdote of Glauco
Mattoso's amusingly contradictory identity:


[Glauco Mattoso, paulistano por determinismo e carioca por
livre-arbitrio, nasceu no penultimo dia do primeiro semestre do primeiro
anno da segunda metade do seculo. Quanto a morrer, basta que será sempre
no penultimo dia. Suicida aficionado, bisexual bisexto, politico
apocalyptico, critico citrico, poeta punheta, contista conteste,
concreto discreto, processo possesso e vanguardista passadomasochista.
Venceu todos os concursos litterarios de que não participou: em nenhum
delles foi desclassificado. É o unico escriptor mediocre do paiz: os
demais se dividem em genios injustiçados e genios reconhecidos. Falla
besteira em todos seus pronunciamentos, o que não impede se contradiga
de um para outro. Acha que idéa não tem proprietario, mas usuario: por
isso sobrevive como bibliothecario e não de direito auctoral.] (JORNAL
DOBRABIL 4)


Curiously enough, despite his overt declarations of attraction toward
men and the fetishism of masculinized objects, Mattoso resists being
labeled as gay. When, in one of our early interviews, I alluded to the
author's homosexuality, I was quickly corrected: "A minha
homossexualidade? Não a homossexualidade mas a minha tendência para me
sujeitar a outros homens." Perhaps this hostility toward such a
characterization is yet another manifestation of his insistence on
defying classification. Mattoso apparently subscribes to the notion that
gay identity is incomplete at best and actually reveals very little
about the individual who proclaims it. Samuel R. Delany, in his article,
"Aversion / Perversion / Diversion," points out the significant
shortcomings in labeling oneself or an Other as "gay," a term that he
views as asbtract to the point where he feels compelled, perhaps
ironically, to capitalize the monolithic "Gay Identity":


[The point to the notion of Gay Identity is that, in terms of a
transcendent reality concerned with sexuality PER SE (a universal
similarity, a shared necessary condition, a defining aspect, a
generalizable and inescapable essence common to all men and women called
'gay'), I believe Gay Identity has no more existence than a single,
essential, transcendental sexual difference.] (31)


Richard Parker, in his recent study, BENEATH THE EQUATOR:
CULTURES OF DESIRE, MALE HOMOSEXUALITY, AND
EMERGING GAY COMMUNITIES IN BRAZIL,
confirms that a defined "gay identity" cannot be found when examining
homosexuality in Brazil in the late 1990s. To understand the complex
homosexual subcultures in Brazil, one would have to include, in addition
to many other identities, the "transformistas," "drags," "barbies"
(usually weight-lifters with exaggerated musculature); "boys" (male
dancers; "go-go boys"); "bichas velhas" ("old queens"); "travestis"
(males with exaggerated femininity); "michês" (males with exaggerated
masculinity, playing the active role in sex); "entendidos"; "gays";
"militantes do movimento gay"; and "interventores de AIDS"
("AIDS-prevention workers"). It is not within the scope of this
dissertation to provide a sociological discussion of these various
identities. To obtain this information, Parker's book is an excellent
source. As an alternative reference, scholars may wish to consult Orocil
Pedreira Santos Júnior's recently-published BICHONÁRIO, a
dictionary-format compilation of 750 Brazilian Portuguese terms and
phrases associated with homosexuality. At any rate, it is important to
clarify the astounding complexity involved when undertaking any study of
Brazilian homosexualities. As a result of a number of changes brought
about by redemocratization, the neoliberal restructuring of
post-Abertura Brazilian life, and the appropriation of international gay
styles, music, clothing fashions, and symbols, Parker argues that:


[The fragmentation in what was once perceived as a relatively monolithic
gay community has become apparent, as a growing cacophony of diverse
gay, lesbian, bisexual, queer, and transgender voices have loudly
announced themselves – and any pretense to a unified gay or lesbian
identity has increasingly slipped away.] (229)


In spite of his critical contributions to "Somos" [8] and his ongoing
literary contributions to PASQUIM and LAMPIÃO, Mattoso relates the pain
of his own isolation not only as a marginal poet but also in his role as
gay activist. I believe the following statement is worth quoting at
length, for it sheds significant light on Mattoso's anti-phallocentric
posture which leads to the cultivation of alternative sexualities and
ultimately to themes of scatology, sadomasochism, and foot fetishism,
topics that are explored at length in chapters four and five. In an
interview I held with Mattoso in January 1999, he stated:


[Eu participei dos primeiros grupos gays no Brasil. Vamos dizer que
contribuí para a luta coletiva. Mas mesmo assim, eu tive que sacrificar
as minhas preferências pessoais, porque eu sabia que elas, no contexto
dos demais homossexuais, não seriam aceitas, por se tratarem de coisas
consideradas excêntricas demais, específicas demais; ou seja, enquanto
se defendia a especificidade de determinados setores da sociedade, como
homossexuais, mulheres, negros, etc., a minha própria especificidade não
poderia ser defendida porque era individual demais. Apesar de o
homossexual naquele momento estar negando e repudiando os padrões
heterossexuais, ou seja, a divisão de papéis entre ativo e passivo, o
machismo, a necessidade de um contrato formal para que haja uma relação,
a necessidade da monogamia, e todas essas questões que eles tentavam
derrubar [...] ao mesmo tempo que eles faziam isso, na verdade estavam
perpetuando outros valores no lugar desses; ou seja, a penetração anal,
por exemplo; o mito do pau grande; a falocracia. Eu não estava
interessado nestes mitos [...] Eu estava interessado em pé e estava
interessado no cheiro do pé. São situações completamente fora do
"mainstream." Até mesmo do "mainstream" dos discriminados.]


In addition to dispelling monolithic notions of gay identity, Mattoso is
likely exploiting a certain ludic element in the game of concealing a
concrete assumption of sexual orientation. As Judith Butler puts it,
achieving an ambiguity of identity categories is a significant part of
the subversion that takes place in literature that performs gender: "In
fact, if the [gender] category were to offer no trouble, it would cease
to be interesting to me: it is precisely the pleasure produced by the
instability of those categories [...] that makes me a candidate for the
category to begin with" (184-5). Regardless of the motives for Mattoso's
choice to not self-identify as gay, in the anti-phallocentric universe
that Mattoso creates, there is little room for the sexual norms and
practices of the mainstream gay male. Mattoso's work also occasionally
projects himself in the role of foot fetishist regardless of the gender
of the individual that becomes the object of his desire. While an
attraction toward women is never articulated in Mattoso's poetry, it is
a significant component in both the development of his sexual
autobiography, MANUAL DO PEDÓLATRA AMADOR (1986) and AS AVENTURAS DE
GLAUCOMIX, O PEDÓLATRA, the comic-book adaptation written four years
later. Mattoso's development of the Japanese character of Sílvia may
serve as an example of fetishism that is not confined to a particular
gender and may therefore echo the voice of one who is seeking a sexual
partner who transcends confinement to gender identity. His artistic
self-configuration as a "poeta punheta" is most clearly evidenced in the
neologistic title of the 1982 collection, MEMÓRIAS DE UM PUETEIRO: AS
MELHORES GOZAÇÕES DE GLAUCO MATTOSO, explored thoroughly in chapter
four. [See COLLAGE AND BRICOLAGE]









The phrase "vanguardista passadomasochista" is a crucial contradiction
that, in two words, summarizes a large part of Mattoso's aesthetic
principles and literary strategies: the use of archaic orthography and
forms, combined with transgressive contemporary themes to forge an
identity as pervert, critique the hypocrisies in Brazilian society, and
declare – in postmodern fashion – the death of the concept of the
originary. Self-identifying as "o unico escriptor mediocre do paiz,"
Mattoso assumes a humility that is not characteristic of typical
Brazilian authors who have carved out a space in the canon, for they
have a tendency to conceive themselves either as "undervalued geniuses"
or "recognized geniuses." [9] Mattoso makes no pretense that his
literary contributions reflect a creator who possesses a brilliant mind.
Yet another interesting contradiction that emerges in the above
description is his role as "concreto discreto." One of Mattoso's
trademarks as concrete poet, as we shall see in chapter four, is his
ability to return the subject (and poetic subjectivity) to the concrete
poetic "object." It is fascinating to discover that a corpus whose
project is undeniably radically transgressive also reflects equilibrium
in both form and content. Mattoso's cultivation of "besteira"
(nonsense), in addition to recalling surrealism, is the transformative
language of "sacanagem" whose utility can only be fully achieved when
placed in the skillful hands of one who acknowledges his own multiple
marginality – a self-proclaimed pervert who assumed the power of this
function in his literary production long before any critic could be
given the opportunity to label his work as perverse.


[NOTES]

[1] See [SOURCES]. For Butterman's introduction and contents, see
[A TRANSGRESSOR AS CASE STUDY].

[2] The kaleidoscope was invented by Sir David Brewster about 1816 and
patented the following year. In its original inception, the kaleidoscope
functions as an "optical device consisting of mirrors of coloured glass
or tinsel or beads in a symmetrical geometric design through a viewer.
The design may be changed endlessly by rotating the section containing
the loose fragments" (ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA ONLINE, 1999). The viewing
eyehole at one end therefore gives access to an infinite number of
combinations and patterns.

[3] The three Punic Wars were fought between the Roman Republic and the
Carthaginian (also known as Punic) Empire, resulting, around 149-146
B.C., in the destruction of Carthage (its Phoenician name, incidentally,
means New Town), the enslavement of its population, and Roman hegemony
over the Western Mediterranean. (ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA ONLINE, 1999).

[4] "Glaucos," originally derived from the Greek, also means "Gleaming."
It is also, however, the name of several figures in Greek mythology. A
brief description of one of them appears below, for it seems to shed
light on the prophetic foreshadowing of total blindness that is crucial
to the conclusion of the poem "Kaleidoscopio." According to the
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA ONLINE, Glaucus, surnamed Pontius, was a sea
divinity, endowed with the gift of prophecy. Mattoso's own version of
his mythological homonym can be found in the following sonnet, from the
collection PAULISSÉIA ILHADA (1999):


SONETO 188 GLAUQUIANO

O próprio no sentido figurado:
Mattoso quer dizer interiorano
ou louco, no entender dum italiano;
E Glauco quer dizer esverdeado.

Na lenda tem assento reservado:
foi célebre entre os deuses do oceano.
Ao dom da profecia era profano,
mas por Apolo foi presenteado.

Foi Circe, a feiticeira enciumada,
quem não deixou que Glauco amasse Cila,
a linda ninfa, em monstro transformada.

Mas este Glauco é cego, e não vacila
na triste condição que lhe foi dada
de, mesmo monstruosa, preferi-la.


[5] Glaucoma is defined, according to the MERRIAM-WEBSTER DICTIONARY
ONLINE, as a "disease caused by increase in pressure within the eye as a
result of blockage of the flow of aqueous humour, a watery fluid
produced by the ciliary body." Click [SELECTED SONNETS] and see "Soneto
Glaucomatoso."

[6] The concept of heteronymity, as well as the dynamic of this process
as it refers specifically to this author, will be explored more
thoroughly in chapter four of Butterman's thesis. Click
[COLLAGE AND BRICOLAGE]. One of Mattoso's onomastic
sonnets presents Pedro o Podre as follows:


SONETO 157 ONOMÁSTICO

Às vezes o Pessoa era Caeiro
ou Álvaro de Campos, mais bem-vindo.
Poeta Lagartixa foi Laurindo.
Já Sócrates, Jobim, são Brasileiro.

Dom Pedro, antes de Quarto, foi Primeiro.
Renato ficou Bento, não tão lindo.
Por que será que o Sílvio vive rindo?
Porque trocou de nome e tem dinheiro.

Torelly foi Barão de Itararé.
Gonzaga foi Dirceu e Alceu, Tristão.
Julinho, senão Chico outro não é.

Qual é meu apelido de plantão?
Se for Glauco Mattoso, é o fã do pé,
ou não me chamo Pedro, o Podre, então.


[7] In one of our interviews, Mattoso traces the evolution in the
development of the heteronym Pedro o Podre as follows: "Eu fiquei
pensando, se eu sou Pedro, eu vou ser 'Pedro, o Alguma Coisa'. Existe
Pedro o Grande, Ivan o Terrível, na Rússia. Então, eu pensei, 'Não –
Pedro o Podre, porque o alter-ego mais sujo, mais corrompido, mais
devasso, mais pornográfico do Glauco Mattoso tem que ser 'Podre'." One
of Mattoso's sonnets from the collection PANACÉIA (2000) alludes to the
heteronym:


SONETO 413 LEGENDÁRIO

Um rei quer ser lembrado pelo nome.
Felipe, o Belo, é um pão como ele só.
Carlos, o Calvo, é feio que dá dó.
Pepino, o Breve, mal surge e já some.

Xandão, o Grande, dá a quem dele tome.
Luís, o Bem-Amado, era um xodó.
O Ivã, Terrível, bate até na avó.
O Momo, que era Gordo, hoje nem come.

O Pedro que conheço não é rei,
mas chance de reinar não desperdiça,
tão porco, que um apodo já lhe dei.

Verseja como um verme na carniça.
A merda é seu manjar. Pelo que sei,
seria Pedro, o Podre, com justiça.


[8]  Glauco Mattoso is also credited with both the role as coordinator of
one of São Paulo's most influential groups of gay activists as well as
the conceptualization of its name. "Somos," officially baptized in
December 1978, consisted of a group of male and female sexual minorities
that refused to be labeled "marginals" or "sick" and attempted to raise
general awareness of the fact that Brazilian gays are an oppressed
minority unjustly discriminated against as virulently as any other
minority group. It is fitting that Glauco Mattoso, then known within
Brazilian literary circles as a concretist poet, should devise the
title. "Somos," in addition to being concise, identity-affirming, and
palindromic, also exploits the inverted nature of the word to encompass
and revalorize marginalized groups of sexual "inverts." To be fair,
however, Mattoso "borrowed" the term from the then-defunct Frente de la
Libertación Homosexual de la Argentina. Already by 1979, "Somos," at
first accessible mainly to literary figures such as Mattoso and
colleagues such as João Silvério Trevisan, had branched out to the gay
public in São Paulo. By March of that year, "Somos" had a membership of
25-30 individuals, including ten women (MacRae 115). Click
[BIBLIOGRAPHY]. Click also [SELECTED SONNETS] and see "Soneto Nivelado."

[9] Interestingly, this unpretentious language parallels nearly
identically the words of PASQUIM's first editorial, in 1969, used to
characterize itself: "É um semanário planejado e executado só por
jornalistas que se consideram geniais e que, como os donos de jornais
não reconhecessem tal fato, resolveram ser empresários." In other words,
the same kind of self-reference is illustrated by this Mattosian sonnet
from the collection PAULISSÉIA ILHADA:


SONETO 146 JACTANCIOSO

Não é que eu seja gênio. São os críticos
que à altura não estão dos meus defeitos.
Se os homens já são seres imperfeitos,
poetas são ainda mais raquíticos.

Estão, porém, os críticos graníticos
naquela sua burrice. São sujeitos
mental e moralmente tão estreitos
que igualam-se aos primatas paleolíticos.

Louvor em boca própria é vitupério.
Não quero me gabar, mas que remédio?
Do que é evidente não se faz mistério.

Poetas como eu têm nível médio.
Ocorre que ninguém se leva a sério,
e a sisudez da crítica dá tédio.

° ° °