À sombra da casa-grande: patriarcado, loucura e ressentimento em "Fogo morto"

Abstract

Abstract: The novel Fogo Morto, by José Lins do Rego, focuses on three voices broken between the decay of patriarchy and the promise of modernity. The protagonists are at the mercy of the stifling presence of the Big House (casa-grande) that dominates the work in an objective and metaphorical way. The spaces of the narrative – the Big House, the hovel and the village – formally articulate themselves to the staged dramas, allowing to reflect about the predominance of the family sphere, the private space, facing the difficult conquest of the public space, local par excellence of the free man. Faced with the impasse staged, both the sphere of dependence, marked by failed attempts at emancipation; and the sphere of power, clinging to the ruinous rural aristocracy, will be subject to the modes of madness and resentment.

Keywords: Fogo morto, José Lins do Rego, patriarchy, private space and public space, madness.