A influência dos correspondentes de guerra na memória da Força Expedicionária Brasileira

In 1944, the first Brazilian troops embarked towards the Italian front. Along with them, the writer Rubem Braga departed as a war correspondent, tasked with covering the conflict for the Diário Carioca newspaper. This article conducted an analysis of Rubem Braga's contribution to the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) through his work "Crônicas de Guerra na Itália" (2014), where the author compiles stories about the Brazilians who fought in the war. The research aimed to understand how the writer used memory in constructing his chronicles, thus reconstructing the presence of the FEB in the war. For this, a qualitative methodological approach was employed, primarily based on the aforementioned book and the critical literature on the subject. Specific fragments of chronicles based on the accounts of Brazilian combatants were collected to understand the presentation of the FEB in Rubem Braga's literary texts. Additionally, literary theorists and authors in the field, such as Batista (2010), Candido (1992), Coutinho (1999), and Halbwachs (1990), were analyzed to provide a foundation for the research. The project is expected to enrich the debate on the contribution of Rubem Braga's texts to the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, as well as to encourage the study and recognition of the historical role of Brazilian combatants, the "pracinhas”, who were protagonists in this significant episode in national history, Brazil's participation in World War II against the Nazi forces.