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The Faulty Metaphors of Finance in Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas

Lorenz, Johnny

Luso-Brazilian review, 2012-12, Vol.49 (2), p.51-71 [Periódico revisado por pares]

University of Wisconsin Press

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  • Título:
    The Faulty Metaphors of Finance in Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas
  • Autor: Lorenz, Johnny
  • Assuntos: 1800-1899 ; 1839-1908 ; Ambiguity ; Assis, Joaquim Maria Machado de ; Brazilian literature ; Confession ; Cuba ; dead narrator ; Death ; Debt in literature ; Debts ; Elites ; Epitaph of a Small Winner ; Finance ; Finance in literature ; Machado de Assis ; Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas ; Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas ; metaphor ; Metaphors ; Mortality Rates ; novel ; privilege ; reader response ; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ; Social Class ; the elite
  • É parte de: Luso-Brazilian review, 2012-12, Vol.49 (2), p.51-71
  • Notas: ObjectType-Article-1
    SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
    ObjectType-Feature-2
    content type line 23
  • Descrição: When Memorias postumas de Bras Cubas (1881) by Machado de Assis begins, the death of the narrator has already occurred. The grotesque worm of mortality appears early, in the book's outrageous dedication. While the title announced an extraordinary confession penned by a deceased narrator, the novel itself denies the reader any access to the uncharted world beyond the grave. Bras Cubas, a member of Rio de Janeiro's elite, recounts a life already fully lived -- an impossible premise, since we are, of course, incapable of narrating our own deaths. As he recounts his life among the living, Bras Cubas relies heavily on the vocabulary of financial transaction -- both as quick, rhetorical flourishes and as elaborate, extended metaphors. These metaphors, always clever, at times ostentatious, repeatedly serve not to shed light on a situation but rather to obfuscate. The novel's fundamental ambiguity creates a dynamic, complex relationship between text and reader. Memorias postumas de Bras Cubas places a heavy responsibility on the reader, who must look beyond the narrator's enchanting metaphors and distinguish, in a sense, the shadow of the metaphor. The reader must detect what the narrator's metaphor hopes to suppress -- but cannot suppress entirely. Our narrator's metaphors of finance, especially when he speaks of "debt," gain heightened significance because they consistently fail. And they fail because our narrator's propensity for conjuring "debt" serves one overriding purpose: to distance himself from any real indebtedness and -- as we shall see -- to reinforce the comforting notion that there exists a certain class of people, a select few, blessed by Providence, who do not owe anything to anyone. Adapted from the source document.
  • Editor: University of Wisconsin Press
  • Idioma: Inglês
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