The literary writing of history: the case O gaúcho

Abstract

The present article wants to examine how the narrative construction of meaning of the Farroupilha was operationalized in the novel O gaúcho, by José de Alencar. The period investigated is the third quarter of the 19th century and the space analyzed is monarchical Brazil. The objective is to analyze how the narrative about Farroupilha was constructed in the context called the “Apogee of the monarchy”. The problem that guides the article is to know how the literary operation of history contributed to analyze the construction of meaning of Farroupilha in the aforementioned source, that is, to investigate the relations of the novel/font with historiography, and also, of the writing of history with the writing of literature. From the above, it is concluded that the construction of meaning of O gaúcho gains in interpretative power when analyzed by the literary operation of history and, at the same time, compared with the preceding literary criticism.