Padrão de Resposta

Formation and Representation
Brazilian literature created a notion of Brazil, projecting the vision we have of ourselves, the manner in which we understand and represent ourselves. It is a pluralistic notion, and, in that, lies its strength and vigour – which is literary, cultural, and political. Plurality is the result of the effort through which minority projects of Brazil were expressed and preserved. The question is: what is the meaning of these projects still today? Alternative projects coexist, most of the times, in condition of inferiority, with the project of Brazil created and implemented by the elites. It must also be taken into account that the projects of the elites gain greater meaning when we notice contradictions in them, that is, when we notice, in them, the voices of the oppressed classes. While contradiction remains, it must be said, the effort continues, and so does History.
The predecessors of Machado de Assis tried to view Brazil through European lenses, showing the paths that would allow the country to synchronise its steps with the progress of civilization. Machado inverts the look: civilized Europe begins to be seen through the Brazilian perspective. When Machado publishes his essential books, the formation of the Brazilian literary system is finished. This means that the first great works of universal aesthetic value were produced. Notwithstanding the fact that he was a writer identified with cosmopolitan values, who disqualified the search for local characteristic as the way towards literary excellence, his work is anchored in a local perspective. Except that, now, local is not tantamount to pitoresque, it is that intimate feeling of time and History.