God over the Stones: Guilherme Figueiredo in Israel

Abstract

Between 1963 and 1964, the Brazilian intellectual Guilherme Figueiredo – playwright, novelist and critic – traveled to Israel, the new-born nation of fifteen years. The book Deus sobre as pedras: Israel, published in 1965, is the result of that travel. The report contains many subjects relating to Israel, provided explanations on the formation of the state, the dramatic criticism of Israeli authors, explaining how they formed the kibbutzim. The purpose of this communication is to discuss and analyze this report, based on: the descriptions of historical sites visited by the author, criticism and interpretation of Israeli national culture in training and dialogues and workshops that the author has with Brazilians who have lived in Israel – conversations in which the main subject was the comparison between the Brazilian culture and Israeli culture in training.