Marginal Literature & Resistance in Times of Military Dictatorship: interview with Nicolas Behr

"Literatura Marginal y Resistencia en Tiempos de Dictadura Militar: Entrevista con Nicolas Behr"

Abstract

The thematic focus of the Dossier in its two editions highlights how poetic language, embedded in a historical and linguistic context, can be considered a gesture of resistance and subversion against the established system. In the first edition, we feature an interview with the Cuiabá-born poet Nikolaus von Behr, better known in literary circles as Nicolas Behr. In 1974, he moved to Brasília, where he released his first book, Iogurte com Farinha (Yogurt with Flour). In 1978, Behr was arrested and prosecuted by the DOPS (Department of Political and Social Order) on charges of "carrying pornographic material," an unfounded accusation that actually referred to his own books. After a legal process, he was acquitted the following year, in 1979. In the 1980s, Behr entered the advertising industry as a copywriter and became involved in the environmental movement, working at FUNATURA – Fundação Pró-Natureza (Pro-Nature Foundation), where he remained until 1990. Since then, he has dedicated himself to producing native species of the Cerrado biome through Pau-Brasília, an eco-store and nursery. Behr is part of the marginal literary generation of the 1970s, also known as the mimeograph generation, young poetry, or post-Tropicalist poetry, among other labels attributed to a production that was disconnected from the commercial and academic circuits. This group of poets broke away from the commercial and dictatorial systems of the time, thus securing the freedom of expression they longed for. Their poetic production was closely tied to the counterculture movement that emerged in Europe and the United States in the early 1960s and gained visibility in Brazil in the 1970s. In this interview, Nicolas shares his poetic journey, lived since the 1970s, and talks about his current projects, which include lectures, courses on poetry and literature, and his involvement with environmental causes.