Antônio da Fonseca Soares e Gregório de Matos: uma análise transatlântica

Abstract

The proposed reading of the poems attributed to Gregório de Matos and Guerra in confrontation with a set of poems by Antônio da Fonseca Soares, authors who studied the preceptors of the 17th century, seeking to surpass the mastery of authorities such as Góngora and Quevedo, presents itself as a propitious case study for the analysis of the similarities and differences between the poetic creation in metropolitan Portugal and its main colony, as well as the varied uses of rhetorical-poetic and typological tools that adapted to the environment in which they were produced. From the unfolding of the most commonly used topoi and the portraits of colonial and metropolitan stamps addressed in both texts, it is clear that the poetry attributed to Gregório de Matos has as a remarkable characteristic the textual reflection of colonial power relations, and that of Antônio da Fonseca carries a strong concern with the very structure of the poem. The result of the reading of the two sets of texts reveals that the hierarchy among the characters created for the enactments is the backbone that regulates the uses of rhetorical-poetic tools, and that the heavy hand of social hierarchy is represented in different ways in the two sets of texts: in the colony it is omnipresent and cruel, even though it presents possibilities for redemption, and in the metropolis it is implied, but irreducible when consulted.