Alencar| Senhora – Perfil De Mulher| Senhora - Profile of a Woman

Home , Brazilian literature, Senhora (novel)

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB|G.M. (JOSÉ DE ALENCAR| SENHORA – PERFIL DE MULHER| SENHORA - PROFILE OF A WOMAN

2021 Celebrating the Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

22nd July 2021, 6.30-9 PM GMT UPDATED/REVISED REPEAT EDITION Senhora -Perfil de Mulher (1874-5)

JOSÉ MARTINIANO DE ALENCAR (1829-1877)

Translated as

Senhora - Profile of A Woman (1994)

Page ©VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB –EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON All rights reserved - Creator & Convenor -©Nadia Kerecuk http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml 14-16 Cockspur Street London SW11Y 5BL

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

A riveting tale of how a woman ends up buying a husband in a beguiling love story!

Delightful summer escapism: allow yourself to be carried away by the romance of courtship in 19th century Brazil with echoes of My Fair Lady/Pygmalion!

A masterly early Brazilian psychological novel, with a 21st century feel, exploring the meaning of marriage as a commercial venture and a suitably convenient arrangement.

Its plot contains passions of the soul, virtues and vices with karmic twists and plenty of mind games.

Appearances can be deceptive: why does Aurora show off her trophy husband during her promenades in the fashion-conscious Rio de Janeiro?

Masterly storytelling from the pen of José de Alencar, the most Brazilian of souls, debating timeless moral and ethical themes in shapeshifting human relationships.

How many intertextual references can you discover in Senhora, a discreetly erotic, and thought-provoking Brazilian novel?

Do not miss the magnificent landscapes with English gardens in Rio de Janeiro, the old imperial capital of Brazil, in Senhora !

DETAILS OF AVAILABLE PUBLICATIONS:

ENGLISH

1994 -Senhora Profile of a Woman translated by Catarina Feldmann Edinger (1944–2006) published by the University of Texas Press in the Texas Pan American Series. ISBN-10: 029270450X ISBN-13: 978-0292704503

PORTUGUESE 1875 - Senhora – Perfil de Mulher, publicado por G.M., Livreiro-Editor B. L. Garnier, Rio de Janeiro. Published in feuilleton format in 1874. Numerous editions: e.g. ISBN-10: 0850515076 ISBN-13: 978-0850515077 ASIN: B00BBFSFMS

Free downloads: 1875 original Garnier First part: https://digital.bbm.usp.br/bitstream/bbm/4646/1/001813-1_COMPLETO.pdf Second part: https://digital.bbm.usp.br/bitstream/bbm/4645/1/001813- 2_COMPLETO.pdf

Or the modernised edition 2012 Penguin/Companhia das Letras based on the 1979 text by

J.C. Garbuglio (who used earlier extant editions): 2

https://lelivros.love/book/baixar-livro-senhora-jose-de-alencar-em-pdf-epub-e-mobi/ Page ©VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB –EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON All rights reserved - Creator & Convenor -©Nadia Kerecuk http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml 14-16 Cockspur Street London SW11Y 5BL

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

Also: http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/pesquisa/DetalheObraForm.do?select_action&co_obra =2026

SHORT HISTORY OF THE BOOK AND TRANSLATION

Senhora -Perfil de Mulher is one of the late novels by José de Alencar. It was published in June/July 1875 by the L. G. Garnier bookshop and publishing house. It was the third of a trilogy signed under one of the author’s pennames ‘G.M.’. The author created the character- author, G.M., allegedly a lady of a certain age whose single task was to compile the stories of the three women.

The last in the series, Senhora, carried an additional element in its title ‘Profile of a Woman’. It was published after nearly eleven years after the second novel of the series. Lucíola was published in 1862, Diva in 1864. The latter two carry the name of the main character but the last one is entitled ‘Senhora’ meaning ‘Mrs., Lady, Ma’am’ and the reader soon finds out that the name of the lady of the third novel is Aurélia Camargo. Readers ought to consider why the author closed the series with a more enigmatic title. Was he under the influence of other novelists who wrote novel series entitled with women’s names?

The first name of the main character in Senhora is Aurélia, which evokes references to classical literature. From the Latin family name Aurelius, derived from the Latin aureus (from aurum, gold) which means ‘golden’. A number of minor early saints had this name, e.g. Aurelia of Strasburg (4th century), Aurelia of Regensburg (died 1027, Catholic saint). Their names referred to the meaning ‘golden’ and not to the ancient Latin family. Speaking of names, the mother of Julius Caesar (100 BC-44 BC) was Aurelia Cotta (120 BC-54 BC).

There had been publications of novels featuring women’s names in Brazil in the nineteenth century. In the same year, 1875, the novel A Escrava Isaura (The Slave Isaura) was published by Bernardo Guimarães (1825-1884), a major classic which has never been translated in English. In 1875, various types of novels were published in Brazil, Victorian Britain, Portugal, in Europe and Americas. World authors were read and translated in Brazil. Various authors read in Brazil published their novels in the same year, for example, George Sand (1804-1876), Émile Zola(1840-1902), and Jules Verne (1828-1905). One of the 1875

Jules Verne’s novels was utopian visionary An Ideal City (Une ville idéale) featured musical recitals are broadcast by wires from a piano. 3

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

Overt or covert references to other earlier works such as Aurélia ou le rêve et la vie (1855) by Gérard de Nerval (Gérard Labrunie, 1808 –1855), Octave Feuillet (1821-1890) among other such intertextual references, are a nod to the widely read world literature in Brazil. Novels were booming as much in Brazil as in other countries in the world. Brazilian authors experimented with numerous forms of novel writing in Brazil. They also aimed at creating a Brazilian identity adopting a variety of forms of romance and novel.

Although, there has been a ubiquitous trend to categorise and label novels according to ‘schools’ or the like, numerous novels do not fit those artificial criteria and constructs. In any case, those criteria so loved by literary critics and academics have aged and have been regurgitated far too often. Reading the originals without preconceived ideas is of essence. As I have argued, the proof of the quality of a novel is in reading it. Readers in this century will certainly unveil additional layers of content in older classics. This is the case of Jane Austen often revisited in Britain at the beginning of the third decade of twenty-first century. The same applies to Senhora.

José de Alencar was quite prolific and wrote various types of novels including outstanding historical masterpieces. In his intellectual autobiography, entitled Como e Por Que Sou Romancista (Why and How I Am A Novelist), written in 1863 and published posthumously in 1893, the author offered an account on how he began to write novels. His memories of places of his childhood and youth in the province of Ceará re-enlivened by his later visits along with his memories of his readings awoke a desire to write and fuelled his imagination. He also mentioned the role that his family’s books/library played in his career.

He had taken a break from his law degree in São Paulo and attended the third year of his degree at the Law School of Olinda, Pernambuco. He referenced the Library of the São Bento Convent with its significant collections where the law degrees were offered. The area of the Saint Benedict Convent/Monastery was appointed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.

The Saint Benedict monks arrived in Brazil in the sixteenth century, in Olinda in 1592 and set up significant libraries and schools. The Library of the São Bento Convent in São Paulo is one of the oldest spiritual and temporal collections with rare books. José de Alencar subtly highlighted the Olinda library in his autobiographical account, thus, recorded another significant intellectual legacy of the Olinda Order in the nineteenth century Brazil. The novel contains fascinating social history accounts of the life of the Empire of Brazil including a source for the history of how women were treated in Brazil at the time and how resourceful they were. Additionally, the fictional narrator G.M. showed that there was more complexity in the way women were brought up and educated defying various cliches which have circulated to date.

In this excerpt, José de Alencar told us how he came to write novels:

Foi somente em 1848 que ressurgiu em mim a veia do romance. Acabava de passar dois meses em minha terra natal. Tinha-me repassado das primeiras e tão fagueiras recordações da infância, ali nos mesmos sítios queridos onde nascera. Em Olinda, onde estudava o meu terceiro ano, e na velha biblioteca do

Convento de S. Bento a ler os cronistas da era colonial, desenhavam-se a cada instante,

na tela das reminiscências, as paisagens do meu pátrio Ceará. 4

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

Only in1848 did the vein of novel writing resurface in me. I had just spent two months in my hometown. I had revisited the earliest blissful childhood memories in those dear locations of the place where I was born. In Olinda, where I attended the third year, and in the old Library of the São Bento Convent where I used to read the chroniclers of the colonial period, the landscapes of my homeland Ceará would be delineated in my mind at every instant. (N.K.)

There are various extant editions of the 1875 publication of Senhora by the leading publishing house and bookshop at the time - B. L. Garnier (founded in1844 which operated until 1936). The front cover also tells us that the publisher was the Publisher/Editor of the Historical Institute (located at Rua do Ouvidor, 69, Rio de Janeiro).

Originally, the novel appeared in two volumes. The first volume comprises parts one, O Preço (The Price) and two, Quitação (Settlement), and the second volume contains part three Posse (Tenure) and part four Resgate (Redemption). The author carefully chose the headings reflecting the unusual fictional financial transaction in the plot. Regrettably, this went unnoticed in the English translation.

The first volume carries a curious note to reader at the end, signed J. de Al. It states that Senhora and the preceding two novels attributed to the author G.M. are not his own – the alleged author is but an editor of a story to which he became privy thanks to its main ‘actors’ and that it is a true story. A hint perhaps that it is based on some true characters.

Equally, he elaborates on the heightened expressive language, which he thought of toning it down, but gave up as he did not think he ‘should remove the hues, which the colourist had initially included’. He concludes the woman stoutly resists all seductions and impulses of her own passions and does not fall prey to sensations and that, in fact she embodies the heroism of virtue in her noble stance’.

It seems that this note to the reader creates an intermission foreshadowing nuances for the forthcoming parts three and four. It seems to add an element of playfulness, a sort of game-playing with the reader, a ‘modern’ narrative technique, reminding us of his contemporary Machado de Assis.

Intriguingly, it hints at a possible real-life story on which the novel could have been based, and which has so far been overlooked in Brazilian literary commentary. It should be noted that the translation into English places the Note to the Reader at the beginning of the novel and, by the same token, misses some of the literary devices aptly used by José de Alencar.

In the second volume, after the end, we find an additional eight-page Note (pages 241-8) with a preamble which tells us that the feuilleton of Jornal do Commercio (founded in 1824, the oldest Portuguese language newspaper of Latin America, ceased paper publications in 2016) had published two witty letters signed by a Paula. Following the publication of Paula’s letters, a friend of hers (another woman writer) produced an answer discussing the book and making remarks about its content. It comments that ‘as studies of

literary criticism are rare amongst us, without disparaging anyone, we reproduce the letter so that the readers can judge it for themselves’. However, the 1994 translation in English 5

excluded this section. Page ©VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB –EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON All rights reserved - Creator & Convenor -©Nadia Kerecuk http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml 14-16 Cockspur Street London SW11Y 5BL

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

O folhetim do Jornal do Commercio, escripto por uma penna elegante inseriu a propósito deste romance duas espirituosas cartas assignadas com o nome feminino de Paula. Logo depois appareceu na mesma folha uma amiga da escriptora, a discutir as observações e reparos contidos naquellas cartas acerca do livro. Como sejam raros entre nós os estudos de critica litteraria, sem fermento de despeito, aqui transcrevemos essa carta afim de que o leitor julgue por si da procedência das censuras.

The letter is a fascinating discussion of Senhora signed by a seemingly close friend Eliza do Valle, writing from Petrópolis. She tells Paula de Almeida, who lives in the fashionable Laranjeiras borough, about a visit to the Itamaraty cascade, where Luiza had showed Paula’s two letters. Instead of hosting the discussion in a fashionable literary salon in some Laranjeiras mansion, the salon was held in a beautiful nature spot. The letter examines the features of the novel from diverse points of view. The concluding paragraphs carry a coded reference to the ‘Visconde de Launay’. Vicomte Delaunay was the pen name of Delphine de Girardin (1804-1855), a French author, journalist, a woman of letters and a Paris salonnière.

A D. Paula de Almeida. — Larangeiras. Querida. Passamos hontem a manhã na cascata de Itamaraty. Luiza mostrou-nos tuas cartas, que lemos á sombra dos velhos ipês, copados de flores e ao rugido da torrente nas fragas do rochedo.

(....)

E á propósito. Correu aqui por Petropolis que afinal tiraste da caixinha de costura a penna do Visconde de Launay, e que certo folhetim desta manhã não passa de uma travessura da flor das Larangeiras. Será verdade ? Guarda teu segredo, querida, e com elle, bem dentro do coração, a lembrança da tua Eliza do Vallc.

Petropolis, 2 de Maio.

P S.—Não vás cuidar que sou affeicoada ao autor, e sua admiradora. Não,nem o conheço ; penso de um modo exquisito neste particular. Não pergunto á rosa que me enfeita e á seda que me veste, qual o canteiro ou o tear que produzio essas maravilhas. Da mesma fôrma não inquiro do livro, que cérebro o pensou, que mão o escreveu.

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

We may consider whether the author wanted to highlight that book discussion at a nature beauty spot hinting that Brazil has the advantage of holding open air picnic-style book discussions in comparison to Paris or Europe, or if, we update it to our pandemic times, it reminds us of digital/virtual book launch discussions which heave with commercial components now. The women literary friends had an aesthetic aim. It is a clever device which José de Alencar applies as his literary critics are women. This is contrary to the reality in Brazil where all critics publishing their reviews and opinions at the time were men. As the writer of the reply had not read the novel before, the group asked her to write down their comments on their behalf. She writes from Petrópolis on 2nd May. The question which comes to mind was, ‘Did José de Alencar made a reference to a Brazilian woman literary critic?’ In 1875, this was quite a shrewd approach to take on his numerous critics.

By discussing the construction of the souls of characters in this letter, which rendered in 21st century terminology, would be ‘minds, mentality’. The word espírito as it was commonly translated from the French esprit, or Slavonic дух/душа, in the nineteenth century meant wit, intellect, mind, manner of thinking/reasoning. In the discussions contained in the Note section, Senhora is categorised as a psychological novel. It makes perfect sense as it was also the terminology used in the incipient science of psychology in the second half of the 19th century. The translator, regrettably, missed the reiterated reference to ‘psychological novel’, which ended muddled up with ‘psychic’ …

The literary ladies met and discussed how the characters could be constructed: dramatic as in Shakespeare, illustrated by a scene in Romeo and Juliet, or philosophical as in Balzac. Additionally, in comparing how the character of Fernando Seixas was constructed she drew analogy with the way that Octave Feuillet developed his character Monsieur Camours.

Near the end of the letter, Eliza asks her friend not to be angry at the critical comments regarding the interpretation of the novel in Paula’s letter. She then added that some rumour had been circulating in Petrópolis that Paula ‘found the pen of Vicomte Delaunay in her sewing box and published the piece in the feuilleton (the novel was published as a series first) as mischievous act of the ‘Flower from Laranjeiras’’.

In addition, Eliza added a curious post scriptum asserting she was not acquainted with the author of Senhora, neither was she an admirer as she had never met him. She concluded drawing another analogy stating ‘that she appreciates beauty/marvels of the rose in her attire without asking from which garden or silk it has originated. Likewise, she does not ask the book about the brain who thought it or the hand which wrote it’.

References to literary works in Senhora and authors appear throughout the narrative. At times they are embedded in the narrative as it is the case of the old proverb ‘Casamento e mortalha no céo se talha’, ‘Marriages are made in heaven’, which appears with references to ‘aleijões sociais’, social cripples. José de Alencar incorporates themes from the play Aleijões Sociais. O Casamento e a Mortalha no Céu se Talha written in 1853 or 1860, and printed in Lisbon in 1870, by Francisco Gomes de Amorim (1827-1891). The original title was Escravatura Branca (White Slavery).

Francisco Gomes de Amorim has a fascinating life story. He was a Portuguese novelist, poet, playwright, and linguist who travelled to the north of Brazil at the age of ten with his 7

parents, grew up in Brazil, and would later return to Portugal. He wrote and promoted Page ©VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB –EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON All rights reserved - Creator & Convenor -©Nadia Kerecuk http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml 14-16 Cockspur Street London SW11Y 5BL

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

Brazilian affairs in Portugal. He contributed to various periodicals including the Ilustração Luso-Brasileira (1856-59, available from http://hemerotecadigital.cm- lisboa.pt/OBRAS/IlustrLusoBrasil/IlustracaoLusoBrasileira.htm

He also published the dictionary Dicionário de João Fernandes, lições de língua portuguesa pelos processos novos ao alcance de todas as classes de Portugal e Brasil (1878) available as an ebook from https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34718 Further details about Francisco Gomes de Amorim in Portuguese are available from: https://illa.udc.gal/Repository/Publications/Drafts/1437049893559_Francisco_Gomes_de_amorim.pdf

There are equally multiple references to singing, music, opera, and dancing in Senhora which operate as a vibrant sound background. They add to the kinaesthetic experience of the atmosphere of the narrative. Jointly with the many possible acts of looking or ways of seeing which the narrator depicts in the novel generate a series of synesthetic sequences reminiscent of a cinematic experience. The reference to portrait paintings contributes to the whole landscape of imagination created by the act of reading.

It is a novel, which deserves to be read, reread and re-appraised. Equally, it should not be reduced to banal monetary/financial arguments as it contains much deeper psychological and philosophical content. José de Alencar was ahead of his time and touched on moral and ethical issues, which remain timeless. I would suggest that perhaps these issues have gained even more relevance in the 21st century world.

The novel became a bestseller, and continues in print to date, with numerous editions. The translation in English appeared as Senhora Profile of a Woman (1994) translated by Catarina Feldmann Edinger (1944-2006) and published by the University of Texas Press in Austin.

The translator’s introduction was, similarly to other introductions to translated works, a specific point of view at a particular time based on the experience and views of the translator. Catarina Feldmann Edinger tried, perhaps, too hard to fit the novel into her own research work ignoring some key clues contained in the text. She was mainly an academic. Translation requires a set of specific skills which academics may lack. She included her views about the challenges she faced in translating José de Alencar. It reads as sort of litany of complaints, a reflection of her own limitations such as the lack of knowledge of Brazilian

Portuguese language in the nineteenth century and cultural and intellectual milieu in which

it had evolved. 8

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

Clearly, translation of classics requires wide-ranging knowledge of the language of the period in which the work was written, research and acquaintance with the intellectual atmosphere of the time, and solid linguistic knowledge of the target language to render it in the appropriate register, tone, and lexicon.

Senhora was published two years before the death of the author. There were early translations of his novels Iracema and O Guarany, which certainly provide any translator with invaluable (re)sources.

As mentioned above, the translation does not include the Note which appears at the end of the second volume of the 1875 edition, briefly outlined above. The translation of the headings of the second and fourth parts were rendered as ‘reddress’ instead of ‘settlement’ and ‘ransom’ instead of ‘redemption’ which are names of phases of a financial operation. Clearly, there was a lack of awareness despite the financial theme being present from the outset of the narrative.

There is an In Memoriam piece about Catarina Feldmann Edinger in the Translation Journal 2007 http://translationjournal.net/journal/39feldmann.htm

There is a film adaptation by the prolific film and TV series director Geraldo Vietri (1927-1996) Senhora made in 1976. The soundtrack is by the notable singer Francisco Petrônio (1923-2007). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN0kbZ9Tui8

It was also adapted as a soap opera Senhora by the Rede Globo. The TV adaptation 9 th th was made by Gilberto Braga (1945- ), with 80 episodes shown from 30 June to 17 October Page ©VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB –EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON All rights reserved - Creator & Convenor -©Nadia Kerecuk http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml 14-16 Cockspur Street London SW11Y 5BL

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

1975. It was directed by Herval Rossano (1935-2007) featuring the actress Norma Blum (1939-) as Aurélia Camargo and Cláudio Marzo (1940-2015) as Fernando Seixas.

BIOGRAPHY

JOSÉ MARTINIANO DE ALENCAR JÚNIOR (1829-1877)

José Martiano de Alencar’s legacy remains invaluable to this date. He is regarded as the patriarch of Brazilian literature. His oeuvre is a testimony of his aspiration to ‘brazilianise’ the Brazilian Literature. He can be credited with the creation of the Brazilian literature, and by the same token, with forging a national identity and delving into mythmaking, nation building, mixing of races and recovering various aspects of the history of the whole country.

For him, the Brazilian literature similarly to the Brazilian nation was independent from 10

Portugal but heir to the significant achievements of the Portuguese people. Ideas of national Page ©VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB –EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON All rights reserved - Creator & Convenor -©Nadia Kerecuk http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml 14-16 Cockspur Street London SW11Y 5BL

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures identity had been developing and effervescing following the independence of Brazil in 1822. Significantly, those debates echoed those, which had been unravelling throughout 19th Europe. Various commentators argue that his works represent the spirit, heart, and soul of Brazilians.

He wrote the so-called ‘indianist’, urban and psychological, regional, and historical novels and much more. Furthermore, his writings introduce a novelty, a fictionalization of history, as the narratives about the native indigenous peoples of Brazil that existed at the time were those of either missionaries or adventurers. José de Alencar identified this lacuna and set out to write from the standpoint of a citizen of the young nation, Brazil.

Considering both the relevance, and breadth of his oeuvre for the intellectual history of Brazil, it is rather disappointing that it has been relatively neglected. It could be argued that the current limited scholarship represents a reflection of the bias, which made him best known under the flawed label ‘indianist’. The fact is that his oeuvre represents a limitless source of appraisal of the emerging institutions in the first century of the independence of Brazil and the all-pervading sense of Brazilianness, or Brazilian national identity. His works contain in-depth critical analyses of those institutions and the people who led them, ruthlessly pointing out failures, such as corruption, in them.

José de Alencar was born in the town of Messejana in the State of Ceará on 1st May 1829 and his family moved to Rio de Janeiro in 1830 as his father, formerly a governor of Ceará, became a senator and had to move to the capital to pursue his political career. During his childhood and teenage years, José de Alencar was known as ‘Cazuza’.

He read law (in São Paulo with one year in Olinda). He returned to Rio de Janeiro practicing as a talented lawyer specializing in various legal matters (e.g. habeas corpus, democratic representation, constitutional affairs, electoral reform, abolition of slavery, etc.). He was a voracious reader from an early age and read J. Stuart Mill and various European and world authors.

José de Alencar was a founder member of the Brazilian Bar Association in 1843 and served as the Minister for Justice (1868–70) during the reign of Dom Pedro II. He resigned following a disagreement with the Emperor. This caused a great deal of resentment in the author considering the significant contributions he had made. He also served as a deputy. The author returned to his law office; also, he developed various activities as a journalist, playwright, linguist/philologist, ethnographer, and historian.

As a journalist, he would become involved in various controversies. Under the pen name Ig, he wrote a fierce criticism in Cartas sobre a Confederação dos Tamoios in the Rio de Janeiro daily newspaper regarding the 1856 epic poem Confederação dos Tamoios by Domingos Gonçalves de Magalhães, Viscount of Araguaia (1811-1882), a favourite of the Emperor Dom Pedro II.

José de Alencar produced a critique of the contemporary romantics advancing his own literary and aesthetic theory. Often engaging in polemics, particularly through the

feuilleton articles and chronicles (Ao correr da pena) for the Correio Mercantil from 1854 and, later a series of controversial letters, under the pen name Erasmo (inspired by Desiderius

Erasmus), Letters to the Emperor and Letters to the People (Nation); to the Viscount of Itaboraí 11 Page ©VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB –EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON All rights reserved - Creator & Convenor -©Nadia Kerecuk http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml 14-16 Cockspur Street London SW11Y 5BL

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures on the Financial Crisis, to the Marquis of Olinda and the New Political Letters to the Emperor highlighting failures to deal with various topical issues of institutions.

Following the publication of the first series, the real name of Erasmo was uncovered but he continued to use it in that series. He also wrote under the pseudonyms G.M., J. de AL and SENIO.

His works for theatre are equally relevant. He wrote plays, and also an operetta A Noite de São João (The Eve of the Feast of St. John). Some of his plays came under the scrutiny of the censor instigating a debate about the state of the Brazilian literature. His abolitionist views are present in several plays, including Mãe (‘Mother’, 1860). The Jesuit is a play which contains a severe critique of the role of the Jesuits in Brazil.

A theatre named after him was conceived of at the end of the nineteenth century, the Theatro José de Alencar in Fortaleza, capital of Ceará, located at the square which carries the name of the author as well, a historic listed building inaugurated in 1910, which has become an arts centre. It is a listed building.

José de Alencar collected oral poetry and songs in the northeast known under the title O nosso cancioneiro (Our Songbook) and a series of letters and commentaries sent to Joaquim Serra in 1874. Luís da Câmara Cascudo (1898-1986), the notable anthropologist and ethnographer was the first to regard O nosso cancioneiro as an invaluable primary source of Brazilian north-eastern folklore and ethnography.

José de Alencar argued that he was writing in the Brazilian language. He even outlined a grammar for Brazilian Portuguese, which reveals significant knowledge of contemporary ideas on grammatical theory. His works are a treasure throve for lexicographers. The idea of the Brazilian language would be adopted especially with the period leading to the 1922 Week of Modern Art and its variants throughout Brazil.

Iracema, an anagram of America, is a paradigm in Brazilian novel writing. Machado de Assis, his contemporary, hailed it as a masterpiece in January 1866. Notably, the Brazilian modernists would revisit his works and read them critically using various components of José de Alencar’s original ideas, particularly in the context of the 1922 Week of Modern Art.

There are various confluences, for instance, in the characters and plot of Mário de Andrade’s Macunaíma and José de Alencar’s Iracema and O Guarany. Oswald de Andrade (1890-1954)

refers to Iracema in his 1928 Manifesto Antropófago. 12 Page ©VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB –EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON All rights reserved - Creator & Convenor -©Nadia Kerecuk http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml 14-16 Cockspur Street London SW11Y 5BL

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

José de Alencar married Georgina Augusta Cochrane in 1864. She was the daughter of a wealthy businessman and homeopathic doctor, Dr Thomas Cochrane (cousin of Lord Cochrane) who had published a very popular book on Homeopathy (six editions from 1849: Medicina Doméstica Homoeopathica ou Guia da Arte de Curar Homeoepathicamente) and was developing railways and created the tram company Carris de Ferro in Rio de Janeiro in 1859, subsequently taken over by the Baron of Mauá.

José and Georgina had six children. Mario Cochrane de Alencar (1872 –1925) followed in the footsteps of his father and remained a loyal friend of Machado de Assis. Augusto Cochrane de Alencar (1865-1827) was a diplomat and politician, served as an interim foreign minister (1919) and ambassador of Brazil to the United States. José de Alencar’s life was relatively short. In 1876, Alencar travelled with his wife and six children to Europe planning to stay for two years to recover his health. He had been suffering from tuberculosis. They visited England, France and Portugal but returned to Brazil eight months into their trip as Alencar’s health began to deteriorate. He passed away on 12th December 1877.

List of Main works:

Novels: Cinco Minutos (1856), A Viuvinha (1857), O Guarani (1857), Lucíola (1862), Diva (1864), Iracema (1865), As Minas de Prata (1865-1866), O Gaúcho (1870), A Pata da Gazela (1870), O Tronco do Ipê (1871), A Guerra dos Mascates (1871-1873), Til (1871), Sonhos d’Ouro (1872), Alfarrábios (1873), Ubirajara (1874), O Sertanejo (1875), Senhora (1875), Encarnação (1893 — posthumous)

Theatre plays: O Crédito (1857), Verso e Reverso (1857), O Demônio Familiar (1857), As Asas de um Anjo (1858), Mãe (1860), A Expiação (1867), O Jesuíta (1875)

Chronicles: Ao Correr da Pena (1874)

Autobiography: Como e Por Que sou Romancista (1873)

Critical and other writings: Cartas sobre A Confederação dos Tamoios (1856), Cartas Políticas de Erasmo (1865 -1866), O Sistema Representativo (1866)

Further details and websites

The Brazilian Bilingual Book Club discussed ➢ Iracema in year one – materials available in the book How to Run a Bilingual Book Club Featuring the First Year of the BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB at the Embassy of Brazil in London,

by Nadia Kerecuk ISBN 978-1-5272-3265-5 (Oct 2019)

➢ O Guarany https://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/Londres/en-us/file/cul- 13

bookclub-07-josedealencar.pdf Page ©VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB –EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON All rights reserved - Creator & Convenor -©Nadia Kerecuk http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml 14-16 Cockspur Street London SW11Y 5BL

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

In Portuguese:

➢ José de Alencar was a Patron of the Brazilian Academy of Letters (Chair 23): http://www.academia.org.br/abl/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?sid=239 ➢ There is a museum and cultural centre dedicated to the author – Casa José de Alencar (the former home of author’s father) in Messejena and some of his works can be seen at http://museubrasil.org/en/museu/museu-casa-de-jose-de-alencar ➢ Enciclopédia Itaú Cultural de Arte e Cultura Brasileiras: http://enciclopedia.itaucultural.org.br/pessoa3332/jose-de-alencar ➢ Most of his works are available for free download from the Brazilian National Library, see https://www.bn.gov.br/explore/curiosidades/12-dezembro-1877-morre-jose-alencar ➢ The 1977 Centenary Exhibition about José de Alencar’s oeuvre – free download from the National Library of Brazil: http://objdigital.bn.br/acervo_digital/div_obrasraras/or1277798/or1277798.pdf

➢ The Journal of the Public Library of Paraná https://www.bpp.pr.gov.br/Candido/Pagina/Reportagem-Jose-de-Alencar

@BrazilEmbassyUK

VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB – EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON 2021-Pleasures of Reading Brazilian Literature #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

HAPPY READING!

2021: #BrazilianLitReadingPleasures

READING LIST SECOND HALF 2021 https://sistemas.mre.gov.br/kitweb/datafiles/Londres/en-us/file/BOOKCLUB%20-%20YEAR%20SEVEN%20- %20READING%20LIST%20SECOND%20HALF%20of%202021%20-%20N_K.pdf

Attendance is free, but booking is essential: [email protected] ©Nadia Kerecuk Creator and Convenor of the ©Virtual Brazilian Bilingual Book Club at the Embassy of Brazil in London

15 Page ©VIRTUAL BRAZILIAN BILINGUAL BOOK CLUB –EMBASSY OF BRAZIL IN LONDON All rights reserved - Creator & Convenor -©Nadia Kerecuk http://londres.itamaraty.gov.br/en-us/book_club.xml 14-16 Cockspur Street London SW11Y 5BL

@BrazilEmbassyUK