Biblioteca Digital de VanguardiaA barking dog never talks: animals in Machado de Assis’ novels
One of the most interesting aspects of the novel Philosopher or dog? is, certainly, the relationship established between its protagonist Rubião and his dog Quincas Borba. There is a mixture of dialogue and monologue, in which Rubião seems to listen clearly to the dog’s words. However, such words ser...
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| Formato: | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| Lenguaje: | Portugués |
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Revista de Letras
2008
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/letras/article/view/1190 http://biblioteca-repositorio.clacso.edu.ar/handle/CLACSO/61638 |
| _version_ | 1782335328907952128 |
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| author | Pádua, Vitória Saramago |
| author_facet | Pádua, Vitória Saramago |
| author_sort | Pádua, Vitória Saramago |
| collection | Repositorio |
| description | One of the most interesting aspects of the novel Philosopher or dog? is, certainly, the relationship established between its protagonist Rubião and his dog Quincas Borba. There is a mixture of dialogue and monologue, in which Rubião seems to listen clearly to the dog’s words. However, such words serve only to confirm thoughts and feelings of the protagonist himself. Even considering its significant differences, something similar occurs with other characters in Machado de Assis’ novels: Aires attributes reflexions to dogs and asses, Brás Cubas interacts with butterflies, Bentinho with worms. Taking into account the fables’ tradition, from Aesope to La Fontaine, in which animals act as an inverted mirror of human mind, it is appropriate to ask if Machado might be rethinking or even subverting this genre in his works. Therefore, this article examines some new dimensions given to the lafontainian fable, from the perspective of the subjectivity’s configurations and the narrator’s specificity in Machado’s works. Animals will be analyzed, thus, as spaces where human subjectivity may be unfolded.
Keywords: Machado de Assis. La Fontaine. Animals. Fable. Subjectivity. Narrative. |
| format | info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
| id | clacso-CLACSO61638 |
| institution | CLACSO, Repositorio Digital |
| language | Portugués |
| publishDate | 2008 |
| publisher | Revista de Letras |
| record_format | greenstone |
| spelling | clacso-CLACSO616382022-03-18T16:20:24Z A barking dog never talks: animals in Machado de Assis’ novels Cão que ladra não fala: os animais nos romances machadianos Pádua, Vitória Saramago Machado de Assis La Fontaine Animais Fábula Subjetividade Narrativa Animals Fable Subjectivity Narrative. One of the most interesting aspects of the novel Philosopher or dog? is, certainly, the relationship established between its protagonist Rubião and his dog Quincas Borba. There is a mixture of dialogue and monologue, in which Rubião seems to listen clearly to the dog’s words. However, such words serve only to confirm thoughts and feelings of the protagonist himself. Even considering its significant differences, something similar occurs with other characters in Machado de Assis’ novels: Aires attributes reflexions to dogs and asses, Brás Cubas interacts with butterflies, Bentinho with worms. Taking into account the fables’ tradition, from Aesope to La Fontaine, in which animals act as an inverted mirror of human mind, it is appropriate to ask if Machado might be rethinking or even subverting this genre in his works. Therefore, this article examines some new dimensions given to the lafontainian fable, from the perspective of the subjectivity’s configurations and the narrator’s specificity in Machado’s works. Animals will be analyzed, thus, as spaces where human subjectivity may be unfolded. Keywords: Machado de Assis. La Fontaine. Animals. Fable. Subjectivity. Narrative. Um dos aspectos mais instigantes do romance Quincas Borba é, certamente, a relação que se estabelece entre o protagonista Rubião e o cachorro Quincas Borba. Trata-se de um misto de diálogo e monólogo, no qual Rubião parece ouvir claramente as palavras do cão que, entretanto, não fazem mais que confirmar os próprios pensamentos e sentimentos do protagonista. Ainda que com significativas diferenças, algo semelhante se dá com outros personagens machadianos: Aires atribui reflexões a cachorros e burros, Brás Cubas interage com borboletas, Bentinho com vermes. Considerando a tradição da fábula, de Esopo a La Fontaine, na qual os animais constituem um espelho invertido da mente humana, cabe perguntar em que medida Machado não repensaria e até mesmo subverteria esse gênero em sua obra. O presente trabalho investigará, portanto, as novas dimensões conferidas à fábula lafontainiana, pensada sob o prisma da configuração da subjetividade em Machado e da especificidade do narrador machadiano. Será focalizada, assim, essa função dos animais enquanto espaços de desdobramento da subjetividade humana nos romances machadianos. Palavras-chave: Machado de Assis. La Fontaine. Animais. Fábula. Subjetividade. Narrativa. 2008-12-19 2022-03-18T16:20:24Z 2022-03-18T16:20:24Z info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/letras/article/view/1190 http://biblioteca-repositorio.clacso.edu.ar/handle/CLACSO/61638 por https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/letras/article/view/1190/970 Copyright (c) 2008 Revista de Letras application/pdf Revista de Letras Revista de Letras Revista de Letras; Vol. 48 No. 2 (2008) Revista de Letras; v. 48 n. 2 (2008) 1981-7886 0101-3505 |
| spellingShingle | Machado de Assis La Fontaine Animais Fábula Subjetividade Narrativa Animals Fable Subjectivity Narrative. Pádua, Vitória Saramago A barking dog never talks: animals in Machado de Assis’ novels |
| title | A barking dog never talks: animals in Machado de Assis’ novels |
| title_full | A barking dog never talks: animals in Machado de Assis’ novels |
| title_fullStr | A barking dog never talks: animals in Machado de Assis’ novels |
| title_full_unstemmed | A barking dog never talks: animals in Machado de Assis’ novels |
| title_short | A barking dog never talks: animals in Machado de Assis’ novels |
| title_sort | barking dog never talks: animals in machado de assis’ novels |
| topic | Machado de Assis La Fontaine Animais Fábula Subjetividade Narrativa Animals Fable Subjectivity Narrative. |
| url | https://periodicos.fclar.unesp.br/letras/article/view/1190 http://biblioteca-repositorio.clacso.edu.ar/handle/CLACSO/61638 |