Conselheiro Aires na obra de Paulo Rouanet

Abstract

This article suggests that the “Shandian form” conceptualized by Sérgio Paulo Rouanet, in his book Riso e melancolia, used especially in relation to Posthumous memoirs of Brás Cubas, can also be applied to Machado’s novels after this one, including the last two, whose “author” is a diplomat, Counselor Aires. The article also rescues what is perhaps the only text published by Rouanet on foreign and international policy, which speculates on what would be a Brazilian foreign policy conducted by Machado’s character, and analyzes the references to the figure of Aires in Machado’s correspondence organized by Rouanet.