Sagarana

João Guimarães Rosa · 1908–1967 · Brazil

Originally Sagarana (Portuguese) · translated by Harriet de Onís

Why it matters

Nine tales of jagunços, oxen, and duels set in the same backlands Guimarães Rosa would later map in full: his debut collection, and Brazilian regionalism's decisive turn toward invented language and folkloric myth.

At a glance

Invented backlands vocabulary and a dense oral cadence anticipate his later novel's difficulty.