The narrative ethos in Bons dias!, by Machado de Assis

Abstract

In this article, we seek to show some aspects of Machado de Assis's method of composition, which enabled him to subtly criticize the society of his time. In order to do so, we analyze the discourse techniques he used in a specific series of chronicles, Bons dias!, published at the end of the 19th century in the newspaper Gazeta de Notícias do Rio de Janeiro. Among the resources observed, we highlight the personification process of several social types the narrator-chronist creates, which is able to amount to sophisticated caricatures of the society at that time.

Machado de Assis; chronicles; style; social criticism