Machado de Assis, the Brazilian Pyrrhonian

Preface

Preface Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908) wrote novels and short stories which-once philosophically analyzedreveal a remarkable and original skeptical perspective. This perspective makes Machado the only Brazilian author who deserves a place in the history of the skeptical tradition. The defense of Machado's right to be included among the great modem skeptics is the main ambition of this book. For this reason , Machado's novels and short stories are here viewed as works written by a skeptical thinker rather than a literary author. Accordingly, the analytic position here assumed and the critical vocabulary and method employed are those of a phi10sopher ' not of a literary critic. However, insofar as some basic ,literary techniques used by Machado are crucial to the skeptical position he develops, these techniques are taken into account in all chapters of this book. I am grateful to CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientffico e Tecnol6gico) for the fellowship that made the research possible and to Capes (Coordenavao de Aperfeivoamento de Pessoal de Nfvel Superior) for the fellowship which enabled me to revise and develop further my work on Machado. I thank Eduardo Jardim de Moraes, Danilo Marcondes de Souza Filho, Vera Cristina Bueno, and Katia Muricy from the Philosophy Department of the Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro for their help with this project in its early stages. I also thank Luiz Fernando Carvalho, Oswaldo Porchat Pereira, Ezequiel de Olaso, and the referees from Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures for their continuous support. Special thanks go to Richard A.Watson for many helpful suggestions. I have modernized the Portuguese in all quotations from Machado. The basic edition used is the Obra completa organized by Afdinio Coutinho (1962), but the older 1937 Jackson edition was also used, for it contains some short stories not included in the 1962 edition. Except when referenced, the English translations are mine. Longer translations are found in the Appendix, keyed by the number following the reference for the Portuguese quotation. xiii 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I ...