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Date Posted: 15:43:01 06/13/07 Wed
Author: Arlete (TASK 4)
Subject: Task 4- Arlete

FALE – UFMG
DISCIPLINA: Inglês : Produção de Textos
PROFESSORA: Adriana Tenuta
ALUNA: Arlete Silva da Costa


TASK 4

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY



O Alienista, a short story or a novel?



“ O conto é , do prisma dramático, univalente: contém um só drama, um só conflito, uma só unidade dramática, uma só história , uma só ação, enfim uma única célula dramática.(…) o conto flui para um único objetivo , um único efeito. ”

MOISÉS, Massaud. Dicionário de Termos Literários. São Paulo: Cultrix,1974.


As we can perceive by the affirmation above, the short-story assumes peculiar characteristics, develops subtilities that, accenting to it aesthetic fisionomia, approach it to a daily scene . Some constants and values apply to all short-stories, even so this is a sort of difficult definition. The Alienist, by Machado de Assis, is part of the book "Os melhores contos de Machado de Assis", but would be it this a short-story?Definitily not, "O Alienista" is not fit in this genro . There might be several reasons to it, but three stand out.
The first reason is that "the Alienist" brings more than one action and according to MOISÉS, 1974, the short stories contains just one action, just one dramatical cene. This doesn`t happen in the cited story by Machado de Assis.
For example, in the first chapter we have the alienist`s marriage, in the second one we have the description of several clinical cases and a narration of the departure of the alienist ´s wife, Dª Evarista for Rio de Janeiro. So, in the two first chapters already we have more than two different actions.
Following the reading, we find in chapter VI, the return of the Simão Bacamarte´s wife from Rio de Janeiro. In chapter VI happens the rebellion, called "Revolta dos Canjicas”.
These are only some examples of different actions that happen in uncurling of the story. Many others happen and all they, have its importance inside of the story, a time that is granted chapters to them. In this way, we see that the Alienist does not present unit of action, an important characteristic of this genre.
The unit of action generates the unit of place, but as we saw the short story in analysis does not present the first one, then it also does not generate second. The space of action of a story must be limited, can transcorrer in a room, one cômodo. "and when the personages if dislocate, usually the places does not present same dramatical intensity" MASSAUD, 1974. We will see below for the examples that several are the spaces of the actions in the story and all gain intensity in its descriptions.
For instance, the first chapter pass in Itaguaí Village, where occurs the doctor`s marriage, Simão Bacamarte and Dª Evarista. The chapter dedicates to long lines to the strolls of the wife and a friend in Rio De Janeiro. Some episodes pass in the Itaguaí´s streets , also the rebellion in chapter VI. We still have other important places in the story as the residence of Simão Bacamarte, the palace of the government and clearly, the Green House, hospice where they are interned those that the doctor diagnosised as wild.
Then, we see that it lacks this constant to the story by Machado de Assis, the unit of place. The spaces of the actions are several and all gain importance in history.
The third reason is that the unit of time, another characteristic of this genre, does not occur in "The Alienist". The short stories must occur in a restricted lapse of time, hours or days. In this story it has complicated chronological insertions. No longer first chapter has mentions to the past, to the remote times. The first chapter already initiates with the phrase "Three days later..." and the third chapter with "In the end of two months..." e chapter IV "Passed four days...". Five days are dedicated to the internment of the inhabitants of the village in the Green House and more time than it happens the “ Revolta dos Canjicas”.
Or either, it lacks unit of time in the story by Machado de Assis.
To sumarize, action, time and space in a short story must be as condensed and this does not occur in the cited story. It has several images, several fragmentos of the reality, several events in diverse spaces. It has in this story intermediate ideas and situations, fillings and phases of transistion, what it is not allowed in a short story but yes in a romance. The Alienist amplifies until the dimensions of the novel or the romance, and if this happens it already is not more a short story but is an embryo of novel or romance.




MOISÉS, MASSAUD. Dicionário de termos literários. São Paulo: Cultrix, 1974

CORTÁZAR, Júlio . Valise de Cronópio. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 1974

ASSIS, Machado. O Alienista.

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