Aesthetics of Equilibrium: The Vanguard Poetics of Vicente Huidobro and Mário de Andrade

Chapter Four. “Prefácio Interessantíssimo” as Mock Manifesto

104 Oswald de Andrade’s May 1921 piece about Mário de Andrade, “O meu poeta futurista,” pushed the latter into the limelight and forced him to distinguish his ideas from those of the futurists, a task that became the “Prefácio” and also, eventually, the 1925 Escrava. In “Prefácio,” Mário accepts the blame for being labeled a futurista: “Oswald de Andrade, chamando-me de futurista, errou. A culpa é minha. Sabia da existência do artigo e deixei que saísse. Tal foi o escândalo, que desejei a morte do mundo” [Oswald, in calling me a futurist, was wrong. It’s my fault. I knew about the article and let it go to print. The scandal was such that I desired the death of the world] (PC 61). Mário’s strong feelings provoked him to defend himself with “Prefácio,” which, consequently, displays a chaotic mixture of disarming sarcasm and pious sincerity. For the same reasons, “Prefácio” as text challenges classification . Beyond the usual essay style of a preface, it also resembles a manifesto in two important ways: (1) it begins with the founding of a movement and (2) aphorisms constitute a large portion of its content. The text does not strictly conform to either of Castillo’s following distinctions, but rather shares aspects of both: [. . .] los manifiestos vanguardistas se distancian de los prólogos , porque, en general, éstos aspiran principalmente a la presentación, dilucidación o justificación del texto al cual preceden y no pretenden adquirir un carácter explícitamente dogmático o abiertamente subversivo, mientras que aquéllos aspiran a exponer un programa estético dirigido a una pluralidad de textos virtuales y revelan a un tiempo una naturaleza francamente rebelde y militante frente a los postuChapter Four “Prefácio Interessantíssimo” as Mock Manifesto “Prefácio Interessantíssimo” 105 lados de la estética tradicional, o incluso de otros manifiestos que, por medios diversos, también la combaten. (156) In another light, the term “pretext” provides a useful definition for “Prefácio” in three ways. First, “Prefácio” fits the apologetic paradigm of the prologue as “pretext” or excuse; second, in its published form (graphically) it precedes Paulicéia in order to exonerate the poet’s unfamiliar style. Finally, as suggested earlier, “Prefácio” may also be read as a chronological “pre-text” to Escrava, which it anticipates in matters of theory and narrative. In order to facilitate an analysis of its unique form, I propose an arbitrary but necessary division of “Prefácio” (after the “Dedicatória”) into three sections (see fig. 3). The thematic structure of these seamless sections will reveal a reading of “Prefácio” as essentially a mock manifesto in which Mário founds and then revokes the hallucinationism (desvairismo, a term derived from the title Paulicéia Desvairada ) movement while proposing an aesthetic theory and other ideas even as he seemingly derides them. Of equal thematic importance is Mário’s circular movement from a discussion of his multiple creative selves to the exposition of aesthetic ideas, and then back to the personal theme. The document becomes an ontological meditation on what it means to defend one’s creative writing from a hostile and uncomprehending public, and to propose, humorously yet earnestly , a new aesthetic interpretation. My interpretation of “Prefácio” as mock manifesto does not neglect its fundamental salience; it allows the text the serious consideration due a statement on aesthetics while examining simultaneously the ephemeral nature that Mário himself assigns to it. Fig. 3. Proposed division of “Préfacio.” Exposition Beginning (PC 59)–PC 63 “Um pouco de teoria?” Theory PC 63 “Um pouco de teoria?”–PC 75 “Por muitos anos [. . .]” Conclusion PC 75 “Por muitos anos”–End (PC 77) 106 Chapter Four • Mário’s Dedication to Himself Opening Paulicéia and addressed to “Mestre querido,” the “Dedicatória” stands as the first manifestation of Mário’s blend of serious and frivolous messages. Undeniably, it is meant as a dedication for the entire work, but it bears the date of December 14, 1921, revealing that it was composed at the same time as “Prefácio,” that is, after the poems of Paulicéia; for that reason it can be considered here within the framework of “Prefácio,” if not in fact as the true beginning of “Prefácio.” This parodical dedication to...