Geografias machadianas: a Rua do Ouvidor nas crônicas de Machado de Assis (1861-1897)

Abstract

The text presents Ouvidor St. as a prominent character in Machado de Assis newspapers chronicles. Considering the hypothesis of Ouvidor St. as a Machadian place, we aim to investigate how Machado de Assis portrays this place in his chronicles. The research drawn on cultural-humanistic geography approaches and on studies about life and work of Machado de Assis. The content analysis was the methodology chosen to analyze the chronicles. The presente text consists of three chapters. In the first, we present a brief history of the dialogue between geography and literature, the relevance and the challengings in studying an author of his magnitude; the characteristics of Machado's chronicle and its context within the scope of literary journalism; and the geographic potential of Machado's writing. The second chapter presents an analysis of Machado’s personal geography – called here as geobiography –, revisiting places and paths which were important in his trajectory that culminates in Ouvidor St. The final chapter presents the content analysis of the chronicles since three categories of analysis. In Vitrine we analyse the chronicles in which Machado exalted the Ouvidor’s economic and social centrality exalted; and as a showcase of Rio society, highlighting the symbolic aspects of the street. The Window category presents the chronicles of the Ouvidor everyday life, experienced or known by the author during his walkings. Reflexo, on the other hand, presents the chronicles in which the Ouvidor is refered as the “rumor street”, and those in which the author demonstrated his personal and afective identification with Ouvidor Street. It was possible to notice in the analysis of the chronicles that Machado’s presence in the Ouvidor St. over the years reflects his profound relationship with the place. The text concludes that besides being the most importante street in the 19th century Rio de Janeiro, the Ouvidor St. was the main street for Machado de Assis, becamin his house, home and place.