2003 CLAS Summer Research Report Mónica González Spanish and Portuguese "Machado de Assis: Reformulating the Canon"

My interest in Brazil began when I was an adolescent, and it was fostered by the richness of its culture and the joyfulness of its people. This last aspect was particularly attractive to me because it was very different from the apathy and disenchantment that had become the main characteristics of Chilean society –my society- during the decades of the eighties and nineties. Therefore, after having approached Brazil through music, literature and language, it wasn't until this summer that I had the opportunity of traveling there for the first time. Moreover, throughout the course of my academic career in Latin-American literature I was naturally drawn to Brazil and to Machado de Assis as a crucial figure in the emergence of a strong national literary tradition.

Consequently, under the premise of the canonical “uniqueness” of Machado, and the belief that most of the criticism written about his work has not reflected a thorough reading of it, my goal was to attempt a deeper understanding of the historical and intellectual context in which the most important Latin-American novelist of the 19th century produced his work. By broadening the analysis’ perspective, I intended to be able to address the gaps left by Marxist and Psychoanalytic criticism, which have interpreted Machado’s novels only within the frames of their theories. In addition, and consistent with my concern with creating a more fluent interchange of mutual knowledge between the “Hispanic” and “Luso” Americas, the purpose of my travel was also to immerse myself in the depths of Brazilian culture and everyday life: I rented an apartment in Rio de Janeiro, and lived there for two months.

The first morning I woke up in Rio, I realized that its reputation of being the "marvelous city" -cidade maravilhosa- was not only well deserved but also incapable as a concept of fully reflecting its enchanting atmosphere. Imagine a place with all the urban resources of a big city, but located in the middle of exuberant nature –the mata atlântica-and surrounded by the most beautiful landscape of beaches and hills. Moreover, people from Rio –cariocas- are among the most cheerful and kind persons that I have ever met. My first impression was really beyond what I had expected and this allowed me to, understand, in some way, why Machado de Assis was never interested in leaving Rio. This also could be explained by the fact that, during the time when he produced his work, that is, during the second half of the XIX century, Rio was Brazil's most important city as a result of the prolific residence of the Portuguese royal family between 1808 and 1821. They transformed Rio de Janeiro not only in the metropolis of the Portuguese Empire, but also in a cultural capital that received and irradiated all the intellectual knowledge of the European Illustration through formal institutions, such as schools, museums, libraries, etc. The result of this cultural transformation was the emergence of a generation of intellectuals whose legacy marked a turning point in the cultural history of Brazil as an independent nation. Machado de Assis was part of that generation.

The Brasilian Literary Academy (Academia Brasileira de Letras), located in the center of Rio de Janeiro.

One of the concerns of this Brazilian illuminist generation was the establishment of an institution capable of preserving the language and promoting the development of the intellectual life of the country. It was Lucio de Azevedo who first came up with the idea, and it was put into practice in 1897 under the name of “Brazilian Literary Academy.” Inspired by its French equal, the Academia Brasileira de Letras was presided by Machado de Assis until his death in 1908, and it currently preserves all of his personal belongings including his complete literary work. For this reason, it is also called “the house of Machado” -a casa de Machado-, and it was certainly the ideal place to conduct my research.

Machado de Assis' bust welcomes visitors to the Academy.

I was a regular visitor of Machado’s house for two months and I was able to personally experience its hospitality: I felt “at home” since the very first day because the staff of the Academy’s library put all of its resources at my service after only a brief introduction and explanation of my interests. Of course, the password was my genuine interest in Machado de Assis, whom is still considered to be an emblematic figure within the Academy’s context. In addition, I could notice the effectiveness of working “on the field” in order to obtain a more comprehensive knowledge of any subject matter. After two months of research, I acquired a deep understanding of the intellectual environment of Machado de Assis' time, the generation of intellectuals to which he belonged, and of Brazilian culture in general. The most important source of information was the bibliography related to Machado and to his time, such as journals and magazines. I also had an opportunity to examine some of his personal belongings, such as his library, manuscripts and letters, which widely illustrate the nearest context of production of certain works. However, I found a third important source of information that I had not contemplated before: the staff of the Academy. In general, they are personally attached to the institution due to family relationships with founders or other academics, or simply because they love Brazilian literature or Machado de Assis. Hence, my conversations with them represented a precious way of learning more about the backstage history of this institution and its members.

Paraty, the beautiful city in which a literary encounter took place in August 2003.

Furthermore, there are some anecdotes that illustrate how invaluable it was for me as a researcher to be able to have a first hand contact with the materials that I was studying, besides their being memorable moments of my experience in the Academia Brasileira de Letras. A good example of this is what happened to me when I was reading some old and rare journals published around 1870 in São Luiz de Maranhão, a city located in the northern part of the country. I found two poems signed by the suggestive initials M. A. With the help of Luiz Antônio, chief of the library, I consulted the complete poetry of Machado and the poems were not there. Afterward, we checked with three books which contained the initials used by writers and poets during the XIX century and, according to them, the letters M. A. could only be hiding the identity of Machado de Assis. What happened then? I felt as if I had found an unknown treasure, but additional evidence suggested that the books of initials had probably omitted some collaborators from that period of time. Nonetheless, it was an interesting experience even though the “discovering” of those poems would have implied an undeserved privilege considering that it merely occurred as the result of chance.

This and similar anecdotes as well as the knowledge I acquired of Brazilian literature, along with the whole adventure of being thoroughly immersed in the country's culture, converged to create the most complete learning experience that I have ever had. Not even an intensive seminar on Brazilian culture would have been able to provide such a quantity and quality of knowledge. Therefore, this trip has represented a turning point in my personal and academic history related to Brazil. As a PhD student, the project that I developed allowed me to expand the criteria of analysis of Machado de Assis’ work by getting systematically acquainted with his intellectual context. In doing so, I built the academic foundation that will support several further studies on Machado. In addition, this research has provided me with significant information about the literary atmosphere of the Brazilian XIX century, which is central within the context of the requirements of my specialization in Latin American literature.

Finally, as a Latin-Americanist, this trip has helped me to make concrete the effort of integrating Brazilian literature, history and culture into my study of Latin America. This is a fundamental accomplishment for my academic work, because I intend to promote the mutual knowledge and cooperation between the two Americas in order to attain a sense of community and the improvement of the quality of life of all of their inhabitants. I am sure both Americas can achieve this aim together.