Editorial data

Published in Belo Horizonte, A Revista pioneered modernism in Minas Gerais and marked the movement's first experience outside the São Paulo-Rio de Janeiro axis. The editorial office was located at Avenida João Pinheiro, 565, and all issues were produced at the Diário de Minas printing office, at Rua da Bahia, 1210-1220, a newspaper to which some members of the group were contributors.

The editors chose a concise title, with no subtitle, that would characterize the modern content of the periodical, taking into consideration the strategic sense of not anticipating its proposal to the society of Minas Gerais. Of the three issues published, the intention of monthly periodicity was achieved in the first two, which came out in July and August 1925, followed by a hiatus until the release of the third and final issue in January 1926. Carlos Drummond de Andrade and Martins de Almeida were responsible for the direction, with Gregoriano Canêdo as editor. Although we lack information about the print runs, single issues were sold for 1$000, with costs of 6$000 and 12$000 for the biannual and annual subscriptions, respectively.

Compared to the other modernist magazines of the decade, A Revista featured a small format (14.5 x 22 cm), containing approximately 58 pages per issue. With a fairly simple graphic design, its sober-coloured cover was only highlighted by the red title, while the composition was completed by the summary in the middle, which was a typical visual pattern of other contemporary publications in the Brazilian editorial world, such as Revista do Brasil (São Paulo, 1916-1925). Inside, the layout was conventional, with small print size, especially when compared to the first modernist magazine in São Paulo, Klaxon (São Paulo, 1922-1923). Iconographic content was found only in clichés that made up the magazine's advertisements.

Among its prose and poetry texts, the magazine presented several contributions on national and international literature criticism, especially from French authors. Articles debating aspects of nationalism, regionalism, and tradition were also published. Regarding A Revista's collaborators, the presence of the members of “Estrela” (the group responsible for the publication) should be noted, as well as some important names in the national modernist scene, particularly Mário de Andrade, Manuel Bandeira, Guilherme de Almeida, and Ronald de Carvalho. In contrast, the periodical published so-called “passadista” contributions, including traditional figures from the Minas Gerais cultural arena, who had little relationship with the avant-garde wing of A Revista.

The disappearance of A Revista can be explained by the dispersion of the founding group, which moved away from Belo Horizonte. Regardless, the Minas Gerais modernists continued to contribute to other publications of the movement.

Luciana Francisco