Parody and Carnivalization in the Novels of Marcio Souza

Abstract

The concept of parody has received a great deal of attention in contemporary literary theory. From G6rard Genette to Umberto Eco, from Mikhail Bakhtin to Northrop Frye, from Wayne Booth to Jonathan Culler, most important modern theorists have directly or indirectly addressed issue of parody.' This renewed critical interest in parody not accidental for it parallels a resurgence of parody in literary practice. As Linda Hutcheon has said, in contemporary literature parody is one of major modes of formal and thematic construction of texts (2). While it not my intention to present an exhaustive study of reasons for or implication of use of parody in twentieth-century literature, I would like to make three general observations concerning modern parody. First, parody an expression of self-consciousness that characterizes much modern literature: parody reflects modern writer's overt preoccupation with his craft. Second, there are clear links between use of parody and questioning of realism in modern literature: parody undeniably related to what has been called metafiction.2 Third, parody a sophisticated mode that demands a great deal of participation by reader, while, at same time, requiring that reader maintain an awareness of literature as artifice. Parody is, then, a mode that encourages close collaboration between writer and reader, or, to use language of modern semiotics, parody depends on the coincidence, at level of strategy, of decoding ... and encoding (Hutcheon 34). These three aspects should be taken into account when dealing with most of novels of Maircio Souza, a writer who has made consistent and systematic use of parody. An examination of parody in Marcio Souza will provide, therefore, a valuable insight into way he constructs his highly original narratives. Nevertheless, it should be stressed that in novels of Mircio Souza parody not only a structural device, but an essential and inseparable part of his political satire. While reliance on parody places Marcio Souza within a recognizable general trend in contemporary literature, special use of parody in his works underscores specific situation of Brazilian writer (and, by extension, of Brazilian reader) in 1970's and 1980's. Galvez, Imperador do Acre announces itself as parody even before narrative proper opens, in fact from title page, where it classified not as a novel but as a folhetim. It clear, however, that despite being written in form of a serialized novel, Galvez far from being a traditional folhetim. Although it uses outward shape of folhetim, many of essential elements of this genre are missing. For example, whereas traditionally folhetim relies on creation of suspense and on emotional involvement of a naive reader, Galvez constantly undermines suspense and through narrative self-consciousness forces reader, even while he enjoying mad adventures of Luiz Galvez, to remain aware of different planes on which narration operates. The most blatant device employed in Galvez to achieve this effect on reader placement of titles before each of innumerable short sections into which book divided. These titles have two complementary functions. First, they signal coexistence of two narrators, Luiz Galvez, alleged author of manuscript discovered by