Traduções e distanciamentos: alguns modelos literários em "Helena" (1876), de Machado de Assis

Abstract

This paper develops a reading of two literary models
contained in the novel Helena (1876). It is considered
the reader expectationsin Brazil during the nineteenth
century and onhow Machado de Assis influences the
debate on the so-called “local color” literature, theme
discussed by him in the “Instinct of nationality in Brazilian
literature” essay, from 1873, which turned out as his
novels structural matter. Inside Helena fictional space,
there is tension between the local and universal, represented
both by direct quotation from Manon Lescaut
and novels such as Paul and Virginia, as the incorporation
in its existing archetypes narrative in the serials.
Formally, in parodies, “translate” and rework on literary
references - both national and foreign, Machado’s
texts from that period criticize some guiding principles
of Brazilian literature, questioning literature models
and reflecting on them.