Dickens in Brazil: A Tale of Two Cities in Students’ Voices is a unique collection showcasing the creative and critical responses of Brazilian undergraduate students to Charles Dickens’s classic novel A Tale of Two Cities. Edited by Professor Marcela Santos Brigida (Rio de Janeiro State University), with assistance from one of the authors, Victor Soares Lopes, this book highlights the fresh perspectives of students, many of whom encountered Dickens for the first time through this project.
The book is divided into two sections: the first features creative responses, including poems, songs, alternate endings, and visual art inspired by the novel, while the second presents academic essays that explore the novel’s complex themes, such as social justice, revolution, and the representation of women. These essays and artistic contributions demonstrate the lasting impact of Dickens’s work across time and space, highlighting its relevance to contemporary Brazilian society.
This collection amplifies the voices of young Brazilian students as they explore universal themes of sacrifice, oppression, and hope, offering new and insightful interpretations of Dickens’s narrative. It stands as a testament to Dickens’s lasting influence and the powerful intersection between literature and education across time.
The book features contributions from Ana Giulia Mussury Ruas Tostes, Brendo Marcio Cardoso Bezerra, Ester do Nascimento Cruz, Karen Beijer, Larissa da Silva Rego, Laura de Assis Cardoso, Melissa Ferreira Oliveira da Silva, Adriane Bernardo Dutra Galdencio, Alexia de Lima Coutinho Soares, Bruna Athayde de Almeida, Daniel Moreira Safadi, Fernanda Carvalho Silva da Costa, Ian Paes Leme, Lívia Souza de Carvalho, Pedro Angelo Nogueira dos Santos, Thaís Vitória Póvoa, Victor Soares Lopes, and Vitor Moraes Alves da Silva.
The collection you are about to read is curiously Victorian in its expansiveness as well as in its variety. It is also, I dare say, impressively Dickensian in the best ways. In 2023, I taught this group of students in a course on Victorian fiction. When the time came for our assessment on A Tale of Two Cities, I offered them the alternative of writing critical or personal essays, but also of handing in a creative response to the novel. In the same way that a journal like Household Words was the result of a combination of many talents from an editorial, literary, critical, as well as artistic nature, this book paints a diverse and colourful picture of the ways in which a group of English-speaking Brazilian undergraduates responded to Charles Dickens.
– marcela santos brigida
Marcela Santos Brigida is Professor of English Literature at the Rio de Janeiro State University. She has edited Dickens in Brazil: A Tale of Two Cities in Students’ Voices (Kellynch Press, 2024) and is currently translating The Life of Charles Dickens by John Forster. Her recent academic publications include articles in Dickens Quarterly and Brontë Studies. Marcela runs the website Reading While Walking, where you find more about her projects and writing.
Victor Soares Lopes is is in his final year as an English undergraduate student at the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ). He writes book reviews and literary adaptations for the extension project Literatura Inglesa Brasil. He offers tutoring support in the English Literature department at at UERJ. His research interests include contemporary fiction in English and the work of American author Raven Leilani.
