Contistas a Maupassant: a recepção criativa de Guy de Maupassant no Brasil

Abstract

Several scholars have pointed out the proximity of the work of Brazilian writers with the Guy de Maupassant’s canon (1850-1893). In this work, we propose a parallel study of Maupassant short stories with the work of eight writers, who produced most of their writings from 1880 and 1940: Lucio de Mendonca, Medeiros e Albuquerque, Simoes Lopes Neto, Monteiro Lobato, Lima Barreto, Viriato Correia, Gastao Cruls and Ribeiro Couto. Our goal is to evaluate how the creative response of the French writer was during this period, in Brazil, through the reading of those who read and cited him in their works. In the first part, the study of Guy de Maupassant’s complete work and each genre that the writer devoted himself will provide an in-depth understanding of his poetry. In the second part, from a typology of his short stories, in which its richness and variety of shapes and themes are valued, we suggest a comparison with the Brazilian writers. In chapters devoted to each Brazilian writer in question, we do a presentation of names and works, mostly little known to the general public, as referenced in some manuals of Brazilian literature or studies on the short story in Brazil. With the exception of Simoes Lopes Neto, Monteiro Lobato and Lima Barreto, there are few studies about the works of the other storytellers, finding that here we intend to help correct. The selection of the Brazilian texts reflects the double movement of the argument of this work comparing with the narrative of maupassantian short stories and the appreciation of outstanding Brazilian storytellers, today unjustly forgotten. If this group of writers were motivated by reading Maupassant on the one hand, on the other hand they collaborated individually for writing highly original masterpieces in the genre of their time in Brazil. The moment studied in this work reveals several important names who, along with Machado de Assis, contributed to establishing the Brazilian short story.