The metaphors of the nation: Cornélio Penna and Gilberto Freyre

Authors

  • Josalba Fabiana dos Santos

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5380/rel.v66i0.5099

Keywords:

Cornélio Penna, Gilberto Freyre, nação, nation

Abstract

In Cornélio Pennas novels, the small town in the interior of the country and the family are metaphors and metonymies for the nation: they are both elements of comparison and parts of a whole. Reproducing the 19th-century Brazilian patriarchal and slavocratic system, especially in A menina morta, the writer exposes the violence upon which the State supports itself. A similar approach is taken by Gilberto Freyre in Casa-grande & senzala. Patriarchalism and slavery are the basis of the familyowned sugar-cane farms of colonial Brazil. However, the sociologist mythicises the national foundation by harmonising the master-slave relationship.

How to Cite

dos Santos, J. F. (2005). The metaphors of the nation: Cornélio Penna and Gilberto Freyre. Revista Letras, 66. https://doi.org/10.5380/rel.v66i0.5099

Issue

Section

Estudos Literários