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Analysis of the Narrative Structure and Style of <i>O Manual dos Inquisidores</i>: An Allegory of the Salazar Dictatorship in Portugal

2011; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Volume: 163; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/hsf.2011.0045

2165-6185

Daniel Colón,

Literature, Culture, and Criticism

Analysis of the Narrative Structure and Style of O Manual dos Inquisidores: An Allegory of the Salazar Dictatorship in Portugal1 Daniel E. Colón In O Manual dos Inquisidores (1996) António Lobo Antunes presents his readers with a polyphonic narrative that provides a multitude of perspectives on the development of the modern Portuguese state. Published more than twenty years after the fall of the dictatorship of António de Oliveira Salazar, this novel allegorizes not only the nearly fifty-year regime, but also the transition to democracy and subsequent period of modernization. The narrative structure and style are a function of the meticulously constructed allegory that Lobo Antunes creates of Francisco – a fictitious high ranking minister of the Estado Novo and close advisor to Salazar – and his farm estate in Setúbal, as a microcosm of Portugal during the greater part of the twentieth century. The allegory focuses particular attention on the depiction of the figure of the dictator as embodied by Francisco, and how he relates to the other characters in the novel, most of whom figure into his extended family structure. It is precisely this allegory that determines the systematic character selection for specific objectives and effects within the text. Given the structure of the novel as a series of testimonies, it is through speech, i.e., the syntax, the language employed, the subject matter and what the characters say about each other, that the reader must infer information not explicitly provided in order to have a more profound understanding of the novel. All of these linguistic nuances developed [End Page 63] and exploited by António Lobo Antunes serve to provide detailed depictions of the characters in terms of their socio-economic status, political ideology – or, in many cases, lack there of –, education, and their different roles in Portuguese society. The basic structure of O Manual consists of five main relatos, or “reports,” provided by João (Francisco’s son), Dona Titina (the governess of Francisco’s farm in Setúbal), Paula (Francisco’s out-of-wedlock daughter by the cook), Milá (one of Francisco’s mistresses), and, finally, by Francisco himself. Regarding this character selection, Maria Alzira Seixo comments: “O Manual dos Inquisidores é, desta forma, um romance que muito simplesmente junta as falas de um grupo familiar restrito (pai, mãe e filhos), mas torna essas junturas complexas e desarticuladas” (296). Each report is divided into three sections, interwoven with three comentários, “commentaries,” by different characters linked to the person giving the primary report.2 No characters ever provide more than one main report or secondary commentary. The only deviation from this pattern is Francisco’s report, where there are only two accompanying commentaries, thus leaving the final word in the novel to the protagonist. Therefore, Lobo Antunes unifies nineteen separate testimonies in order to provide a wealth of different perspectives on the inner workings of the small world Francisco constructed for himself on his farm in Setúbal. An allegorical reading of the novel establishes fundamental parallels between Francisco and Salazar as well as between the farm and Portugal. Before exploring these and other allegorical representations, I will analyze the more apparent system of familial relations highlighted by Maria Alzira Seixo and, specifically, how they are established as a result of the narrative structure and style that are a hallmark of the writing of António Lobo Antunes. Given that the narrative structure of the novel revolves around five main reports, the question that naturally arises is: to whom are the characters in the novel reporting and why? The subject of the inquiry is, without a doubt, Francisco, and the purpose is to write a novel about him; a project begun even before his death since his testimony is included in the novel. How can the reader be sure, however, that the final text to be produced is a novel and not a political study? Many of the characters talk directly to the inquisitor(s), among them, Lina, João’s girlfriend after his separation from Sofia, who says: “se quando terminar este livro lhe apetecer escrever um romance de advogados traga o gravador, vamos para um sítio calmo, uma...