Ecce Hommo: el relato del Hijo del Hombre. Un análisis en torno a la novela Um homem chamado Jesus de Frei Betto

Abstract

The present article proposes a literary analysis of Frei Betto’s novel –Um homem chamado Jesus (2009)– devoted to the life of Jesus. The aim is to demonstrate that Betto’s perspec-tive of this historic character responds to his own intellectual and political project: his affi nity with Liberation Theology and his militancy in Mester’s Biblical Circles and Christian Base Communities (CEB). Betto’s novel is an example of the pedagogical role of literature to raise awareness about how past events can be reinterpreted from present events. The Brazilian author rethinks the life of Jesus in the present context from the point of view of Liberation Theology, and considers him as a victim of political persecu-tion through his own intellectual and militancy life experience. Thus, according to Betto, literature and militancy are part of the same political and religious project.