Machado de Assis : Toward a Poetics of Emulation EPUB

<DIV>This book offers an alternative explanation for one of the core dilemmas of Brazilian literary criticism: the &ldquo;midlife crisis&rdquo; Machado de Assis underwent from 1878 to 1880, the result of which was the writing of <I>The Posthumous Memoirs of Br&aacute;s Cubas</I>, as well as the remarkable production of his mature years&mdash;with an emphasis on his masterpiece, <I>Dom Casmurro</I>.<BR /><BR /> At the center of this alternative explanation, Castro Rocha situates the fallout from the success enjoyed by E&ccedil;a de Queir&oacute;s with the publication of <I>Cousin Bas&iacute;lio </I>and Machado&rsquo;s two long texts condemning the author and his work.

Literary and aesthetic rivalries come to the fore, allowing for a new theoretical framework based on a literary appropriation of &ldquo;thick description,&rdquo; the method proposed by anthropologist Clifford Geertz.

From this method, Castro Rocha derives his key hypothesis: an unforeseen consequence of Machado&rsquo;s reaction to E&ccedil;a&rsquo;s novel was a return to the classical notion of <I>aemulatio</I>, which led Machado to develop a &ldquo;poetics of emulation.&rdquo;</DIV>