[In the following interview, Amado discusses his work and its relationship to other cultures, Brazil, and his own region of Bahia.]

If Gabriel García Márquez opened the way for Mario Vargas Llosa, Carlos Fuentes, Ernesto Cardenal and many other Latin American writers in Spanish, it was Jorge Amado who did the same for the Brazilian authors. This writer from Bahia, who doesn't like to talk about himself, was the first to tell the world of Bahia, of Brazil and its people. He was the first to demonstrate that Brazilian literature is less homogeneous than that produced in other Latin American countries since it is a product of the cultural diversity of a vast country.

In Brazil they say that Jorge Amado has done more for Brazilian culture than have all the government departments for the advancement of culture in the history of the republic. His work includes 26 titles, 684 Brazilian and 40 Portuguese editions, and 260 translations into over 40 languages. But as he turned 70 two years ago, he merely said of himself that "I am a sensual and romantic Brazilian who lives the admirable life of the Bahian people."

[Sichel:] Could you give us a brief chronicle of how your works have fared abroad?

[Amado:] My books have been read in translation for many years. The first, Cacau, was translated into Spanish and published in Buenos Aires in 1935…. Jubiabá, in 1938, was the first French translation…. The first into Russian dates from 1937, and the first into English was in 1945. After World War II my books began to be widely translated into the major languages—French, English, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish, Chinese—as well as into more diverse and rare languages. In Russia my books are translated into some ten languages other than Russian…. I now am published in 42 languages. There are many pirated editions—in Greek, Arabic, Turkish and Persian, for example. Every now and then I learn that a book of mine has been translated into a rare language like Korean or Mongolian. In some languages I have a strong audience, I'm widely read; in others, literary success hasn't been matched by success in sales, at least for the time being. I think this happens to writers everywhere.

You opened the path to success for Brazilian literature in the United States. How do you see the invasion of the U.S. market by Brazilian authors?

I wonder if there is such an invasion. If there is one, it's just beginning, and it's a great thing to have happen. Before, very few Brazilian authors were published or had major or minor success—Machado de Assís, Erico Veríssimo, Gilberto Freyre, Graciliano Ramos, José Lins do Rego, Antônio Calado, José J. Veiga, and so forth. Today, other authors, veterans like Raquel de Queiroz, Lygia Fagundes Telles and Darcy Ribeiro, and young ones like João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Márcio de Souza, Ignacio de Loyola, Antônio Tôrres and Ivan Angelo, all excellent writers capable of attracting the interest of the U.S. public (and of other countries as well), are being translated and published…. I believe this interest is due to the growth of Brazil as a nation and the Brazilian people's affirmation of their struggle to build a free country capable of eliminating the huge social contradictions that make such a rich country live with such poverty and oppression.

Do you think that the translation of your work can serve a social purpose in the United States or in Europe?

The growing solidarity with our people can help. I think I win friends for Brazil—I know of many who became interested in Brazil after reading my books.

What can a foreigner—a European or a North American—learn about Brazil from reading your work?

I think they can get an idea of Brazilian reality with its immense contradictions, its dramatic poverty and its obstinate, invincible people born from the mix of bloods, races and cultures. My books reflect Brazilian reality and are portraits of my people.

Do you consider yourself a political writer?

Every writer is political, even those who think they have nothing to do with politics, since the mere act of writing is a political act—the writer exerts influence on the readers, and this is a political action. I am a writer who basically deals with social themes, since the source material for my creation is Brazilian reality…. [Many of my] novels narrate the life of the people, everyday life, the struggle against extreme poverty, against hunger, the large estates, racial prejudice, backwardness, underdevelopment. The hero of my novels is the Brazilian people. My characters are the most destitute, the most needy, the most oppressed—country and city people without any power other than the strength of the mestizo people of Brazil. They say that I am a novelist of whores and vagabonds, and there is truth in that, for my characters increasingly are anti-heroes. I believe that only the people struggle selflessly and decently, without hidden motives.

Do you believe that literature should have a commitment?

I believe every writer has the right to carry out his own literary work as he sees fit—whether or not he may have a political commitment, take a position on the struggle of the people, write about the social situation or the personal problems of a human being. Each one is master of his own way of existing and creating. Personally, I consider myself to be a writer with a commitment, a writer who is for the people and against their enemies, who develops his work around the reality of Brazil, discussing the country's problems, touching on the dramatic existence of the people and their struggle. I believe that commitment in no way diminishes the quality of the work. However, I also believe that the quality of literary work does not depend on the author's degree of commitment. The only thing of which I totally disapprove is official literature, from any side, for whatever regime it may serve. Literature commissioned as propaganda for governments or political parties will always be limited, momentary, incidental and dogmatic.

As a political writer, could you make a comparison between political literature of the 1930's and that of the 1970's?

I find the political literature of the 1930's was more romantic, broader, less manipulative. The political literature of the present is more limited, conventional, generally more dogmatic, at least as dogmatic as the literature in the 1950's that responded to Stalinism. Of course, there are exceptions. Lately in Brazil some books have been published that are documents of genuine interest; some of them are powerful as well as beautiful, like the books of Gabeira, who is a real writer. It's also worth mentioning with regard to political literature of the 1930's (including early Soviet literature, so free, so strong and spontaneous, in contrast to the later, Stalinist literature) that it was creative literature—poetry, short stories, novels, theater. The current output is inclined to be documentary.

Is Brazil the only Latin American country that has diverse cultural centers? How do you fit into this heterogeneity?

Diverse cultural centers undoubtedly do exist in Brazil, and happily so. But there also exists a very strong national unity that is reflected in our literature. Erico Veríssimo is as Brazilian a writer as José Américo de Almeida, for even though they come from different cultural areas, they exhibit the same Brazilian spirit. It is necessary to understand this phenomenon in order to understand Brazil. I am a Brazilian writer who comes from the culture of Bahia. On the other hand, I don't believe in the existence of what's conventionally referred to as "Latin American literature." What does exist is literature from different countries in Latin America, each with its own characteristics. What the devil does an Argentine writer have in common with a writer from Cuba?

The critics classify your work as regionalist. How do you interpret this view?

Critics can be extremely funny when they're not [offensive]. All of us writers from the northeast have been tagged regionalists. Nevertheless, we are the ones who have had the most general impact.

What do you think of the current output of Brazilian literature?

I look at it optimistically. Much is being written and published. Naturally there are some bad things, but out of it all emerge writers of true quality. They will endure and move our literature ahead.

There is something magical in your work, something that penetrates not only Brazilian society but also others. To what do you attribute this?

The magic of the Brazilian people. Bahia, the principal setting for my books, is a magical land—the city as well as the state. We are a mestizo people, of an intense culture, and every one of us is a magician.

From your point of view, what role does your work play in the Brazilian context?

I influence the mass readership. I am a writer read by a large audience in my country. I transmit a positive message of confidence, struggle, resistance and hope.

What are the problems facing a Brazilian writer today?

The greatest problem is amateurism, despite a strong existing current that strives for professionalism…. There are many people writing and publishing, and there are many books in the bookstore. All that is necessary is that those books be of real interest to the existing Brazilian readership, which is growing daily. It is a large readership and can absorb a great amount of literature as soon as those books awaken an interest in the majority of those readers.