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The Brazil of Sílvio Romero and Machado de Assis: History of a 'Polemic', or the Writer as Critic of the Critic

2010; Modern Humanities Research Association; Volume: 26; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/port.2010.0011

2222-4270

Alberto Luiz Schneider, Richard Correll,

History of Education Research in Brazil

This article explores the political, aesthetic and intellectual divergences between the historian of literature Sílvio Romero and the writer Machado de Assis, who were contemporaries and founding members of the Academia Brasileira de Letras. In 1897 Romero wrote his Machado de Assis: estudo comparativo de literatura brasileira, in which he criticizes the writer for his supposed weakness in the discussion of the great national questions — the end of slavery, European immigration, national identity and miscegenation. However, this was an agenda, inspired by social Darwinism, that was rejected by Machado. It is argued here that, contrary to the supposition of many Brazilian critics — for whom Romero had 'not understood' Machado — the historian was able to see very clearly in the man of letters a different interpretation of Brazil, one that directly contested the one that he was advancing. Este artigo explora as divergências políticas, estéticas e intelectuais entre o historiador da literatura Sílvio Romero e o escritor Machado de Assis. Ambos foram contemporâneos e membros fundadores da Academia Brasileira de Letras. Em 1897, Romero escreve Machado de Assis: estudo comparativo de literatura brasileira, onde critica o escritor por sua suposta tibieza em refletir sobre as grandes questões nacionais — o esgotamento da escravidão, a imigração europeia, a identidade nacional, a miscigenação. Machado recusara esta agenda, inspirada no darwinismo social. Ao contrário do que supôs a crítica brasileira — para quem Romero 'não entendera' Machado — o historiador foi capaz de reconhecer no literato outra interpretação do Brasil, em franca oposição àquela na qual ele próprio acreditava.