Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria

Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria
born June 21, 1839, Rio de Janeiro, Braz.
died Sept. 29, 1908, Rio de Janeiro

Brazilian poet, novelist, and short-story writer.

Machado began to write in his spare time while working as a printer's apprentice. By 1869 he was a successful man of letters. His witty, pessimistic works, rooted in European cultural traditions, include the eccentric first-person narrative Epitaph of a Small Winner (1881) and the novels Philosopher or Dog? (1891) and Dom Casmurro (1899), the latter his masterpiece. Considered the classic master of Brazilian literature, he became the first president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 1896.

* * *

▪ Brazilian author
born June 21, 1839, Rio de Janeiro
died Sept. 29, 1908, Rio de Janeiro

      Brazilian poet, novelist, and short-story writer, a classic master of Brazilian and world literature, whose art is rooted in the traditions of European culture and transcends the influence of Brazilian literary schools.

      The son of a house painter of mixed black and Portuguese ancestry, he was raised, after his mother's death, by a stepmother, also of mixed parentage. Sickly, epileptic, unprepossessing in appearance, and a stutterer, he found employment at the age of 17 as a printer's apprentice and began to write in his spare time. Soon he was publishing stories, poems, and novels in the Romantic tradition.

      By 1869 Machado was a typically successful Brazilian man of letters, comfortably provided for by a government position and happily married to a cultured woman, Carolina Augusta Xavier de Novais. In that year illness forced him to withdraw from his active career. He emerged from this temporary retreat with a new novel in a strikingly original style that marked a clear break with the literary conventions of the day. This was Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas (1881; “The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas”; Epitaph of a Small Winner, 1952), an eccentric first-person narrative with a flow of free association and digression. The “small winner,” Brás Cubas, cynically reviews his life in 160 short, often disconnected chapters. Machado's reputation now rests on this work, his short stories, and two later novels, Quincas borba (1891; Philosopher or Dog?, 1954) and his masterpiece, Dom Casmurro (1899; Eng. trans., 1953), a haunting and terrible journey into a mind warped by jealousy. Translations of his shorter fiction include The Devil's Church and Other Stories (1977) and The Psychiatrist and Other Stories (1963).

      Urbane, aristocratic, cosmopolitan, aloof, and cynical, Machado ignored such social questions as Brazilian independence and the abolition of slavery. He failed to share Brazilian enthusiasm for local colour and self-conscious nationalism. The locale of his fiction is usually Rio, which he takes for granted as though there were no other place. The natural world is practically nonexistent in his work. He writes with a deep-rooted pessimism and disillusionment that would be unbearable were it not disguised by flippancy and wit. He became the first president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters in 1896 and held the office until his death.

Additional Reading
Earl E. Fitz, Machado de Assis (1989); Paul B. Dixon, Retired Dreams: Dom Casmurro, Myth, and Modernity (1989); John Gledson, The Deceptive Realism of Machado de Assis (1984).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria — (21 jun. 1839, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil–29 sep. 1908, Rio de Janeiro). Poeta, novelista y cuentista brasileño. Machado empezó a escribir en su tiempo libre mientras trabajaba como aprendiz de tipógrafo. En 1869 ya era un conocido hombre de letras.… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Machado de Assis — Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (* 21. Juni 1839 in Rio de Janeiro; † 29. September 1908 ebenda) war ein brasilianischer Autor von Romanen, Kurzgeschichten und Gedichten. Er ist die wichtigste Figur in der… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis — [ʒoaˈkĩ maˈɾiɐ maˈʃadu dʒi aˈsis] (* 21. Juni 1839 in Rio de Janeiro; † 29. September 1908 ebenda) war ein brasilianischer Autor von Romanen, Kurzgeschichten und G …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Joaquim Maria Machado De Assis — Machado de Assis Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis fut un écrivain brésilien (Rio de Janeiro, 21 juin 1839 Rio de Janeiro, 29 septembre 1908). Fondateur et « Président Perpétuel » de l Académie Brésilienne des Lettres. Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Joaquim maria machado de assis — Machado de Assis Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis fut un écrivain brésilien (Rio de Janeiro, 21 juin 1839 Rio de Janeiro, 29 septembre 1908). Fondateur et « Président Perpétuel » de l Académie Brésilienne des Lettres. Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Machado de Assis — Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis Machado de Assis Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis fut un écrivain brésilien (Rio de Janeiro, 21 juin 1839 Rio de Janeiro, 29 septembre 1908). Fondateur et « Président Perpétuel » de l Académie Brésilienne… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis — Machado de Assis Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis fut un écrivain brésilien (Rio de Janeiro, 21 juin 1839 Rio de Janeiro, 29 septembre 1908). Fondateur et « Président Perpétuel » de l Académie brésilienne des lettres. Sommaire 1… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Joaquim Machado de Assis — Machado de Assis Nacionalidad …   Wikipedia Español

  • Machado de Assis — Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis fue un escritor brasileño (Rio de Janeiro, 21 de junio de 1839 Rio de Janeiro, 29 de septiembre de 1908). Considerado el padre del realismo en Brasil, escribió obras memorables, como Memorias póstumas de Blas Cubas …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Machado de Assis —   [ma ʃadu di a sis], Joaquim Maria, brasilianischer Schriftsteller, * Rio de Janeiro 21. 6. 1839, ✝ ebenda 29. 9. 1908; Autodidakt; trat zunächst mit romantischer Lyrik hervor; die bedeutendste Leistung der brasilianischen Literatur seiner Zeit… …   Universal-Lexikon

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”