O MITO DO ORIENTE NO IMAGINÁRIO BRASILEIRO

Abstract

Throughout the years, the Orient has been a mythical place to Portugaland Brazil, on which they reflect, albeit imaginatively, the dilemma of their ownidentities. In O Mandarim, Eça de Queiroz dramatizes the mediocrity of Portugueselife through Teodoro, who, while embarking on a voyage in search of a misteriousmandarin, ends up discovering his true self. In the short story Academia do Sião,Machado de Assis creates a bizarre plot, dealing with soul exchanges and corruptionin a grandiose Chinese Kingdom. Thus, from a luso-brazilian perspective, the Orientseems to stand for both the obscurity and the wonder of human condition.