Ironias em Quincas Berro Dágua

Abstract

In the study of comicality, irony appears as one of the most effective processes of language and it is perceived by common sense as a tool to mean the opposite of what has been said. Adding to this point of view objective and plausible perspectives that realize irony with more specific functions such as the degradation of behavior and the revelation of vices, we will try to understand how the process of irony happens through the ingenious situations of the narrator of the novel A Morte e a Morte de Quincas Berro D’água (1983), from the Brazilian author Jorge Amado. Thus, entering the plot, it is possible to see how the family of the deceased Quincas (once Joaquim) presents itself increasingly ridiculous due to narration and exhibition of the facts that the narrator, intentionally and surreptitiously, exposes. To support our study, we will use as theoretical background arguments proposed by Muecke (1995), Jankelévitch (1986), Duarte (2006), Bergson (2007) and Jolles (1976) concerning irony. It will also be used ideas proposed by Freud (1977) and Cerqueira (1977) about this theme. Our goal consists in identify and analyze excerpts in which the intrusive omniscient narrator of the previously mentioned novel shows the ironical conduct toward the family by reason of its attempt to create a veil of integrity to hide vanity and past mistakes. In our analysis, it was perceived that the narrator of the Brazilian novel A morte e a morte de Quincas Berro Dágua (1983) is ironic and he tries to show a hidden truth behind a false moralization and superiority.