Melancolia, perda do ideal e sublimação em Tristram Shandy

Abstract

This thesis has the purpose of analyzing the novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, by the Irish author Laurence Sterne (1713-1768), released for the first time in 1760, under the perspective of melancholy. Although Sterne’s work is more well known for its humor and irreverence, there are characteristics, either in its protagonist Tristram as in several aspects of the book itself, such as its fragmented narrative and its apparently lack of sense, that reveals a sadder and more melancholic side that can be unnoticed by the reader. Therefore, we will focus on this melancholic element of this character and how his melancholy can be perceived through his writing. We will also analyze the character of Walter Shandy, the protagonist’s father, applying Sigmund Freud’s (1856-1939) theory of loss, so we can have a better comprehension of how such loss contributed to the melancholic condition of his son. Furthermore, we will also show how Tristram makes use of playfulness and humor to fight against sadness, in a process known as sublimation. To bring this melancholic aspect of Sterne’s novel to light, we will make use of the famous works of Freud, Luto e Melancolia (Mourning and Melancholia, 2020) and O mal-estar na civilização (Civilization and its discontents, 2011), and Sandra Eller’s book Luto e Melancolia: a sombra do espetáculo (2012), where she presents a deep analysis of Freud’s text. Also, we will make use of several books, articles and texts to base our study, such as the introductory texts of the Brazilian and Portuguese editions of Tristram Shandy, from the authors José Paulo Paes (2006) and Manuel Portela (1997), and the works of Sergio Paulo Rouanet (2007), Maria Rita Kehl (2009), Jean Starobinski (2016), Luiz Costa Lima (2017), Karina Chianca (2016), among others. Through this research, we can conclude that melancholy not only is an element in Tristram Shandy, but it is also something that in several instances is mixed with its humor, in a process that makes the book even more fascinating and timeless.