Project During an Interregnum: Reflections on Brasília in João Cabral’s Poetry

Abstract

The present article is an analysis of João Cabral de Melo Neto’s poem “Uma mineira em Brasília”, published in A educação pela pedra (1966), focusing on his formulations on the country’s capital, which had recently been founded. In order to do so, the poetics of the author were studied, particularly his analogy on the work of poets and engineers, with special highlight to the specificity of its configuration in said poem. Furthermore, the consolidation of the feminine figure in the poem was interpreted. This, along with formal and thematic elements, engendered a curious resignification of a certain critical mindset present in the author’s former books. Finally, Cabral’s treatment of Brasília in other poems was taken in consideration, so as to confirm the interpretative hypotheses brought forth by the article.