Mortalha de uma madrugada sem lua – a história à clef em “Jaguaré”, de Breno Accioly

Abstract

Every record is made from the perspective of the writer, whether in formal documentation or through the arts, such as fantastic literature. It is interesting to note that literary writing has the potential to be examined from a historical perspective, seeking correlations in fictional narratives that aid in understanding the timeframe in which they were produced. One can also observe that the social and political context surrounding the author is inevitably conveyed in their work. Based on this framework, the study will explore the collections João Urso from 1944 and Maria Pudim from 1955, analyzing several stories through the lens of autofiction, noting how the author embeds his own personality into his characters. The analysis will focus on the story “Jaguaré” (though it will not be limited to it), as we see Accioly’s narrative as much more than a satire of Brazil in the early 1950s. Through the fictional transfiguration of the “Maracanaço” episode (Brazil's defeat to Uruguay in the match that decided the 1950 World Cup), we will also comprehend the social critique that, despite its ambiguities, shapes the four main characters of the story. The central hypothesis of the research is that the literary construction of the tale reveals traits of a patriarchal society, marked by prejudices and violence experienced by Breno Accioly, and how his catharsis is expressed through a tragic-critical writing style.