Aspectos da épica na vida literária de Francisco Félix de Souza em The viceroy of Ouidah (1980), de B. Chatwin e Cobra Verde (1987), de W. Herzog

Abstract

This article aims to investigate the epic aspects that permeate the literary life of Francisco Félix de Souza, a central figure in the transatlantic slave trade in the first half of the 19th century, both in the work The Viceroy of Ouidah (1982), by the English writer Bruce Chatwin, as well as in its adaptation for Cobra Verde (1987), a cinematographic product written and directed by Werner Herzog. Exploring the “literary” level, the focus of the investigation is to identify the presence of the hybrid character of the “historical” and “wonderful” levels present in the adaptations, in addition to recurring epic themes such as the hero’s identity – sanctification and anthropological vision of the myths that embrace him –, the spatial displacement and, mainly, Bahia as a metaphor of a lost paradise, unreachable by the protagonist himself, and even by all his descendants. Chatwin and Herzog rewrite Francisco Félix de Souza’s life from different points of view, but still in an epic way, giving him a new name and completing his story.