Machado de Assis: The Reverse of the Reverse

Abstract

Some concepts drawn from critical reviews published by Machado de Assis between 1850 and 1870, such as those of the inventory and mitigated realism, reveal parallels with the artistic platform embraced by the conservative Revue des Deux Mondes. Rather than a panegyric to outdated ideals, however, what seems to be at stake here is Machado's distinctive defence of an alliance between ethics and aesthetics, literature and politics, resulting in a very advanced grasp of the art form in an equivocally enfranchised country.