Law and literature: a worm’s view on justice, irony and laughter based on “The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas”

Abstract

This paper articulates Law and Literature to develop considerations on law, irony and laughter, based on the novel The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas (also translated as Epitaph of a Small Winner), by Machado de Assis. As an essay, the paper develops a reflection from the point of view of the worm to whom Machado de Assis dedicates his novel. Four main topics are thus developed: the first one introduces Machado de Assis, highlighting the main aspects of his work; the second one refers specifically to the novel hereby analyzed; the third one deals with the training of jurists, with indications on the practitioner’s actions and thoughts; then, the fourth topic is dedicated to analyzing the character Brás Cubas, based on the previously developed ideas. As final considerations, the paper brings ideas on the role of jurists, irony, laughter, in order to contribute to the reflection about contemporary law. The method used is of heuristic basis.