Ensaio, romantismo e modernidade na literatura de Gilberto Freyre

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to analyze the ways the essayistic way of discourse structures itself in Gilberto Freyre’s fiction prose, specifically in the seminovels Mother and son: a Brazilian tale and The other love of Doctor Paulo. We try to identify the main subjects of this discourse and its strategies of persuasion, what leads our reflection towards the many problems posed by the city and by modernity, and the problems of both’s representation in Freyre’s seminovels. From that onward, we try to search the connections between Freyre’s tough and José de Alencar’s romantic imagination, identifying a link in the way these two authors deal with the complex and delicate question of slavery confronted with modernity’s advents, despite the time hiatus that separates them both.