Lima Barreto contra a Grécia

Abstract

This paper seeks to analyse the way in which Lima Barreto engages with the idea of Greece. On the one hand, there is a direct critique of the ways in which the tradition of Greek Antiquity is presented as a model to be followed, including in it the supposedly Greek whiteness. On the other hand, there is a creative use of this tradition. This use is exemplified by the image of the tunic of Nessus in Recordações do Escrivão Isaías Caminha, and by the figures of Socrates and Plato in Vida e Morte de M.J. Gonzaga de Sá. Greece appears not as mere decoration, but as a device for problematizing both its hegemonic use and the very world that surrounds Lima Barreto.