THE NOSTALGIA OF THE POETIC FORM OF THE NOVEL: BAROQUE ALLEGORIZATION AND RHETORICAL TRADITION IN RAUL POMPÉIA’S O ATENEU
Literary theory. Brazilian literature. Raul Pompéia’s “O Ateneu”. Baroque and modernity. Poetic prose. Criticism and interpretation.
The present study proposes to analyze the stylistic primacy of Raul Pompéia’s O Ateneu (1888), trying to show it as a novel that chooses poetry as material of creation, the reason why one of the most modern works of Brazilian Literature is revealed. Along with extensive rereading of relevant bibliography, which comes from the revision of the critical studies about the book in accordance with the reception theory, this research aims to demonstrate Sergio’s “crônica de saudades” (like a “cronicle of nostalgia”) through three procedures: first, as allegorical transposition from the reality to the plot; secondly, as poetic metalanguage updated in the form of the novel; thirdly, as baroque recycling of old rhetorical codes in the modern fictional prose.