O retrato do negro nas obras de Machado de Assis: Helena, Memórias pótumas de Brás Cubas e Dom Casmurro

Abstract

This research aims to explore and delimit the presence of the black figure in three novels from Machado de Assis. The analysis is focused on the following characters and novels: Vincent (Helena, 1876); Prudencio (Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas, 1881) and a mere sellor of cocadas (Dom Casmurro, 1899). This work aims to observe the representation of the black figure in Machado's work, seeking to unveil the positioning and involvement of the writer with the slave cause. The theoretical basis employs concepts by Sidney Chalhoub (2003), Roberto Schwarz (2000a) (2000b), Heloísa Toller Gomes (1994, 1988) and Regina Zilberman (2002,2012), with emphasis on philosophical, anthropological and sociological issues. In this survey, it was sought, through secondary characters, to highlight how the black slave figure was approached by Machado, evidencing that the writer possessed, albeit under the guise of criticism and irony, an awareness of the situation of the dilemma of slavery in his time.