UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO FACULDADE DE FILIOSOFIA LETRAS E CIÊNCIAS HUMANAS PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM TEORIA LITERÁRIA E LITERATURA COMPARADA Daniel Lago Monteiro William Hazlitt, an essayist on the plain-ground: essay and criticism São Paulo 2016 Daniel Lago Monteiro William Hazlitt, an essayist on the plain-ground: essay and criticism Tese apresentada ao Programa de Pós- Graduação em Teoria Literária e Literatura Comparada do Departamento de Teoria Literária e Literatura Comparada da Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo para a obtenção do título de doutor em teoria literária e literatura comparada sob a orientação do Prof. Dr. Fábio Rigatto de Souza Andrade São Paulo 2016 Firme na terra, nativa, que não quer negar a terra nem, como ave, fugi-la. João Cabral de Melo Neto ‘A educação pela pedra’ Acknowledgements: To the development agencies that funded this research: CAPES, FAPESP and Fulbright. To my father and mother, Flávio Mota Monteiro and Dorimar Lago Monteiro, and to my brother and sister, Lucas Lago Monteiro and Flávia Lago Monteiro, for their unconditional support and care and for have lived through this adventure by my side, though not always physically. To my supervisor, Prof. Dr Fábio Rigatto de Souza Andrade, who in spite of not being a “specialist” accepted to supervise this research and followed it with a receptiveness and understanding of a handful intellectual. To Prof. Dr Michael McKeon who welcomed me as a visiting research student in Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. The intellectual growth that I acquired attending his courses, seminars and conferences is of a priceless value. To Prof. Dr Luisa Calè who welcomed me as a visiting research student in Birkbeck, University of London, and whose bibliographical indications largely enriched my research, and to all scholars I met while in London, especially to Prof. Dr Gregory Dart, Prof. Dr Uttara Natarajan and Phillip Hunnekhul, members of The Hazlitt Society, who, as true hazlittians, showed me that is possible to combine academic accuracy with a fine, enlivened and witty approach to literature. To Prof. Dr Márcio Suzuki, my mentor and friend, who taught me the most valuable lesson in this journey: an everlasting spirit to experiment, a taste to explore new grounds, an ability for constant innovation; in a word, intellectual youthfulness. To Prof. Dr Pedro Paulo Garrido Pimenta, who years ago told me: “you must read Hazlitt, you’re going to love it”! He was right. I am also thankful for his constant encouragements to my research. To Prof. Dr John Milton, a peerless badminton companion, who has always been so considerate and accurate in revising my papers in English including this English version of my thesis. To Érica Emilia Leite, Marcella Marino Medeiros Silva, Mario Spezzapria and Thiago Cass for every Friday afternoon we spent savouring cups of coffee and attempting delicious passages from Coleridge, Schlegel, Hazlitt, and others. To the friends I met while living in New York: Andréa Burgos, Bernardo Oliveira, Bruna Fetter, Eugine Osagie, Iuri Baule, Jerry Clicquot, Julie Tudor, Kristin Henn, Pablo Escudero and Sam O’Hana. The magic of my New York experience would not have been the same without them. To my friends Alexandre Amaral Rodrigues, Christian Tadeu Gilioti, Claudio GH, Daniel Nagase, Edurdo Correia, Fabioa Iszlay de Albuquerque, Fernando Seliprandy, Sérgio Araújo, Thiago Souza, Valter José Maria Filho and Vinícius Castro Soares for all the shared experiences. To Ana Letícia Adami Batista, who has been a partner during every stage in this journey. A carful reader of rare sensibility, her suggestions and stimulating conversations were essential ingredients to the making of this thesis. To her all of my love, because love is never too much! To my brother and sister, Lucas and Flávia. Abstract MONTEIRO, D. William Hazlitt, an essayist on the plain-ground: essay and criticism. Thesis (Doctorate) – Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas. Departamento de Teoria Literária e Literatura Comparada. This thesis analyzes the works of the English essayist and critic William Hazlitt (1778-1830) from a body of images that binds the different stages involved in the craft of the critical and literary essay to topographical accidents and the texture of the soil, as expressed in the author recurrent archetype “on the plain-ground”. My point of departure was the internal analysis of texts and close reading of certain passages where Hazlitt reflects on his own metier. The claims he makes in that essay is an art form required from him a high standard of formal elaboration that analogically approaches the literary essay and inventive criticism to other art forms. Thus, a careful examination of these formal elements was indispensable for this study. Moreover, certain historical and cultural aspects that encompass Hazlitt and his time, the so called British Romanticism, were also part of my analysis, inasmuch as the author brings them to bear in his writings, and according to what I have conceptualized as “mental attitudes” proper to the essayist. In my understanding, three are the essayist’s attitudes as intensely experienced by Hazlitt, namely, the portraitist, the friend, and the adversary. Therefore, each of the three chapters in this dissertation aims at unveiling one of these “mental attitudes”. In the first chapter, on the portraitist attitude and the first stage in the making of the essay (the insight), I have followed Hazlitt during his youthful pilgrimages from an analysis of a few emblems pertaining in “My First Acquaintance with Poets” and “On The Pleasure of Painting”, where he narrates his moment of conversion to a world of art. Furthermore, I have linked these essays to the literary portraits Hazlitt traced of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Edmund Burke, his genuine precursors, in order to understanding the paths along which he was initiated into inventive criticism. In the second chapter, on the friend “mental attitude”, we find Hazlitt by the fireside, either in the solitude of a room of his own, chewing on his thoughts, or in the company of close friends. Intimacy and conviviality are the key ingredients to this stage in the craft of the essay (reading). According to Hazlitt, the writing of essays requires a cordial invitation to readers, with whom the essayist hopes to share his task in a friendly way. In the third chapter, on writing itself, I have inquired into the role of the essayist as an agent of social changes, a “mental attitude” suitable to the adversary. The essay presents itself as a privileged place where the writer struggles with the world and disputes a cause; and the essayist as the man-about-town, whose rambles around the streets of the metropolis and conviviality with the people, particularly those belonging to lower classes, enabled Hazlitt to combine the sustained and controlled rhythms of the polite culture of the essayist with strenuously argumentative, emphatic speeches. Key Words: William Hazlitt – British Romanticism – Literary Essay – Criticism. Resumo MONTEIRO, D. William Hazlitt, um ensaísta ao rés-do-chão: ensaio e crítica. Tese (Doutorado) – Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas. Departamento de Teoria Literária e Literatura Comparada. Esta tese procura analisar a obra do ensaísta e crítico inglês William Hazlitt (1778-1830) a partir de um conjunto de imagens que vinculam as diferentes etapas envolvidas durante o ato de confecção do ensaio crítico e literário aos acidentes topográficos e à textura do solo, expressos no arquétipo recorrente do autor, “ao rés- do-chão”. Pela análise interna de texto e do exercício de leitura, perseguimos as passagens em que Hazlitt reflete sobre seu próprio metiê. A defesa do ensaio como forma de arte coloca-lhe a exigência de um altíssimo grau de elaboração que o aproxima, por analogia, à crítica inventiva e a outras formas de arte. Nesse sentido, o estudo desses elementos formais foi indispensável à pesquisa – também nos foi de grande valia o exame de alguns aspectos históricos e culturais, como o chamado Romantismo Inglês. Nos interessou, sobretudo, aquilo que definimos como “atitudes mentais” próprias do ensaísta, experimentadas e vividas por Hazlitt com intensidade, a saber: o retratista, o amigo e o adversário. Desse modo, cada um dos três capítulos desta tese pretende cobrir uma dessas “atitudes”. No primeiro capítulo, sobre o retratista e o estágio inicial de confecção do ensaio (a inspiração), acompanhamos o autor em suas peregrinações juvenis na leitura cerrada de algumas passagens de dois ensaios em que ele narra a sua experiência de conversão ao mundo das artes, “My First Acquaintance with Poets” e “On the Pleasure of Painting, e no modo como os retratos literários que escreveu de Jean-Jacques Rousseau e de Edmund Burke, seus legítimos precursores, apontaram a ele os caminhos para uma crítica inventiva. No segundo capítulo, sobre a atitude do amigo e a leitura, encontramos Hazlitt ora na solidão de seu quarto, mastigando os pensamentos, ora em companhia de pessoas próximas. Intimidade e convivência são os ingredientes chaves para essa etapa do trabalho. Para Hazlitt, a escrita de ensaio envolve um convite cordial ao leitor, com o qual o ensaísta espera dividir amigavelmente a sua tarefa. No terceiro capítulo, sobre a escrita, investigamos o papel do ensaísta como agente das transformações sociais, própria à atitude do adversário. O ensaio se apresenta como espaço privilegiado onde se travam lutas com ideias e se disputa uma causa; o ensaísta, por sua vez, se apresenta como o homem das ruas (man-about-town), cujas andanças pela metrópole londrina e convivência com os homens, sobretudo aqueles pertencentes às classes baixas, permitiu-lhe combinar à elegância do ensaísta os momentos combativos e ousados de prosa. Palavras-chaves: William Hazlitt – Romantismo Inglês – Ensaio Literário – Critica Contents Introduction ..........................................................................................................