A dramaticidade tragicômica de Machado de Assis

Abstract

Beyond the labels of “romantic writer” in his first phase and “realistic” in his second, Machado de Assis is regarded as a precursor of Brazilian Modernism. His novels are loaded with irony and “false clues” – seeming romantic novels, but actually requiring a more critical reader – such as it hadn’t been seen by then in national literature. This paper shows two aspects of innovation in his novels: dramatic form and, from it, tragicomic expression.