This book makes the argument that Machado de Assis, widely hailed as one of Brazil’s greatest writers, was also a major theoretician of the modern novel form. Steeped in great works of Western literature and an imaginative reader of French Symbolist poetry, Machado creates a “new narrative,” one that will presage the groundbreaking theories of Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure by showing how even the language of narrative cannot escape being elusive and ambiguous in terms of meaning. 

EARL E. FITZ is a professor of Portuguese, Spanish, and comparative literature at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Abbreviations .. iv
A Note on Translations... v
Introduction ... 1
One - The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas ... 95
Two - The Psychiatrist ... 132
Three - Quincas Borba ... 169
Four - Dom Casmurro ... 196
Five - Esau and Jacob ... 235
Six - Counselor Ayres Memorial ... 260
Conclusion ... 283
Acknowledgements ... 310
Bibliography ... 311
Index ... 324
About the Author ... 325