THE MACHADIAN INSPIRATION IN ROBERTO SCHWARZ'S INTERPRETATION OF BRAZIL: INTELLECTUAL INDEPENDENCE AND NEGATIVITY IN THE PERIPHERY OF CAPITALISM

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present the peculiar way in which Roberto Schwarz appropriated certain works of Brazilian social thought, especially those of the so-called “São Paulo sociology”, and articulated them with Frankfurtian critical theory in order to carry out an interpretation of the literary form of Machado de Assis's first mature novel, Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas. The discussion revolves around how this articulation between history, social theory and literature resulted both in an effort of intellectual independence in translating and updating foreign theories from the local context and in a rather unique interpretation of national “formation”, from the point of view of the periphery of capitalism and in a "negative" sense. The hypothesis of the paper is that both Schwarz's interpretation of Brazil and his intellectual stance were, to a large extent, inspired by Machado's independent and sceptical position in relation to the stance of writers, the elite and the direction of the country of his time. Furthermore, I argue that Schwarz's interpretation of Machado de Assis's work and political-intellectual stance offers the possibility of thinking of the novelist as one of the first great interpreters of Brazil, since the critic inaugurated an understanding of Machado's literary form as a critical procedure that was born out of the ideological and political impasses and contradictions of Brazil at the end of the 19th century.