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) 1 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 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 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 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 Only in1848 did the vein of novel writing resurface in me.