American Studies ETDs

Publication Date

11-19-1971

Abstract

In spite of much critical material about other aspects of Mario's literary production, little has heretofore appeared in regard to his short stories.

The man and the artist in Mário are intimately related, a proper appreciation of the latter depending upon understanding the former. Mario was outstanding for his love for mankind, his exuberance for life, his concept of happiness. His religious and political convictions were less stable, his concert of art and the artist was utilitarian and pragmatic, a reflection of his human solidarity and his desire to reduce the gap separating the artist from the common man.

Mário's creative method included much reworking to produce the finished short stories, a process which sometimes took years. In addition, he made numerous but irregular changes in wording, spelling and punctuation in subsequent editions of his stories, consistent with a characteristic dissatisfaction in Mário as well as a constant search for technical improvement, lacking in many Brazilian Modernists.

Primeiro Andar (1926), the most uneven of Mario's collections of contos, contains the worst and some of the best of his stories. Dividing the stories into three groups, violence and tragedy mark the four of the first group which includes perhaps the best story of Primeiro Andar, "Caçada de Macuco." The second group, characterized by caricature and satire, contains four which show best Mario's experimentalism as he combines elements of the short story, theatre, and opera. This experimentation shows influence from Italian Futurism as well as French Dada and Surrealism. Three other stories in this group include "Galo que não Cantou" Mário's favorite in Primeiro Andar. In a third group are two selections which were added as Mário compiled his Obra Imatura.

Certain elements tend to reappear in these and the stories that follow: preoccupation with sex, fascination with human hair and eyes, the presence of the São Paulo, women dressed in black, and some aspects of Brazilian Modernism.

Human suffering is the central theme of Os Contos de Belazarte (1934), accompanied by the author's compassion for those who suffer. The seemingly incongruous admixture of humor is an element not only of relief but again of the author’s compassion. The seven stories are quite uniform in tone and quality and include two of Mário’s favorites, “Nízia Figueira, sua criada” and “Piá não sofre? Sofre,” a Brazilian classic.

Mário’s Contos Novos (1947), published posthumously, is perhaps the superior collection of the three. Of the nine stories here, five are unrelated while four are linked by obvious autobiographical elements. Except for "Nelson," the stories of both groups exhibit uniform high quality and maturity of style and include some of Mario's best. The auto­biographical stories reveal, too, the sources of some of the reappearing elements mentioned earlier.

Stylistically and linguistically there is evolution from Primeiro Andar to Contos Novos. If the former is too "literary," in Belazarte Mário achieves psychological identifi­cation with the common people through Brazilianizing his language and by reducing the distance between spoken and literary language. Contos Novos is somewhat less colloquial, less prone to the stylistic irregularities of Belazarte. Many of Mário's stories reveal the application of his poetics to his prose, especially in his use of the elliptical phrase.

Mário's principal contribution to the Brazilian short story is probably linguistic, but his influence on that genre in Brazil is negligible. More important is the lesson of human solidarity presented in his short stories and his lingering presence and influence on the general Brazilian literary scene.

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

American Studies

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Department Name

American Studies

First Committee Member (Chair)

Jack Edward Tomlins

Second Committee Member

Marshall Rutherford Nason

Third Committee Member

Tamara Holzapfel

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