THE MACHADIAN TURNING POINT 1 SciELO（1 SciELO MACHADIAN转折点）.pdf

1 Novos estud. - CEBRAP vol.1 no.se São Paulo 2005 1 THE MACHADIAN TURNING POINT Roberto Schwarz ABSTRACT The article examines the evolution of the works of Machado de Assis and stresses their exceptionality within the Brazilian postcolonial literary context, focusing on the authors thematic and formal volte-face with regard to the novels of the first phase. From Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas – The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas, often subtitled as the Epitaph of a Small Winner – (1880) on, Machadian fiction takes on a new composition principle, which challenges the conventions dictated by realism and whose uniqueness lies in the narrators arbitrary and transgressive development. While the narrative sets a tone that is both cosmopolitan and universalizing in dealing with local matters, it takes on the perspective of the lordly class. By identifying the events that constitute this procedure, the author highlights the literary genius and the scope of the Machadian view on the particularities of social relations in Brazil. Keywords: Machado de Assis; Brazilian literature; literature and society. Between 1880 and 1908, Machado de Assis wrote four or five novels and a few dozens of short stories. The brilliance of the works was way above the level of Brazilian fiction – including Machado’s own previous works – at the time. The books distant themselves from the romantic blend of local, romantic colors and patriotism – the easy and infallible formula enjoyed by the young nations readers. The difference – not a matter of level – has a wide scope and is worthy of reflection. The distancing did not exclude the continuities, which it needed – though it transfigured them. As observed well by a critic, Machado de Assis m