THREE POLYPHONIC NOVELS BY JOSÉ LINS DO REGO

Abstract

This article aims to analyze polyphony (Bakhtin, 2018) in the work of José Lins do Rego, from a panoramic perspective, considering three of his novels, written between 1930 and 1950. The literary work is considered as an organic whole, encompassing dimensions of content and form, dialectically related, as proposed by Candido (2000). In Menino de engenho, a novel that most tends towards the particular use of the narrative voice, as it occurs in the first person, polyphony is expressed in popular orality and in the social geographical organization of the sugar mill where the big house and the slave quarters coexist, albeit problematically (Freyre, 2004). In Fogo morto, the narrative extends beyond a single sugar mill and systematically encompasses what surrounds this productive cell, including free workers and bandits, for example. Formally, it is divided into three parts, narrated from distinct perspectives. Finally, in Cangaceiros, the idea of polyphony expressed through the voices of Aparício's gang is radical, since, from a formal point of view, the narration is frequently delivered from the third person to various characters through direct discourse, bringing the voices of the diverse inhabitants of that world surrounding the cangaço. It is understood, ultimately, that the work of the Paraíba novelist not only forms part of a polyphonic model of literary production, in which dialogue between authors of his time is notably established, but also reveals the many voices and narrative focuses that come into play in Brazil during the first half of the 20th century.