Representações de Portugal em Memorial de Aires, de Machado de Assis

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the representations of the Portuguese nation in Memorial de Aires, by Machado de Assis. These representations are built in order to show the obsolescence of 19th century Brazilian society’s Portuguese models and can also be noticed in the short-story «A canary’s ideas», written in 1899. We shall thus point to the critical view towards them. The complex relationships between Brazilian and Portuguese intellectuals in the Brazilian literary scene will be taken into consideration in this analysis, as Machado de Assis based on them to develop his critical view on the Portuguese cultural heritage. Such a subject is also mentioned in his chronicles in the series entitled «Bons dias», published between the years of 1888 and 1889.