A letter from Machado de Assis to José Feliciano de Castilho (1865)

• Autor(a) principal: Teles, Ana Carolina Sá
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: letrônica
• Texto Completo: https://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/ojs/index.php/letronica/article/view/19606
• topic: Machado de Assis; José Feliciano de Castilho; José Mendes Leal; Correspondence; Machado de Assis; José Feliciano de Castilho; José Mendes Leal; Correspondência

Machado de Assis’ letters have been read in a new way since an edition published in 2008, which was coordinated by Sérgio Paulo Rouanet, and compiled by Irene Moutinho and Sílvia Eleutério. This article approaches Machado de Assis’ correspondence in the 1860’s, and analyses an open letter that the author wrote to José Feliciano de Castilho in 1865. In this letter, Machado analyses José Mendes Leal’s comedy Os primeiros amores de Bocage (1865). Thus, the text presents a testimony of criticism written in the epistolographic genre by the Brazilian author. It is possible to note that this letter goes beyond conventionalism, as it shows critical engagement. Furthermore, it allows us to observe a young Machado de Assis that writes the text in order to establish social relationships, as well as to relate to a certain literary tradition.