A História do Amor de Fernando e Isaura: um narrador à sombra do cajueiro

Abstract

A História do Amor de Fernando e Isaura by Ariano Suassuna was created as a retelling of the tale of Tristan and Isolde for the Brazilian Northeast. The narrator is a peculiar category in constitution’s novel, because despite being a contemporary work, it refers to different aspects of this category, such as that of the classical and modern narrator, despite being a contemporary work goes back to different features of classical and modern narrator. The present study aims to analyze this category. To do this, some of the different definitions were used: the classic narrator, the death of the classic narrator and the rise of the modern narrator, the modern and contemporary narrator. To develop the theoretical review of this category, we used: Jacyntho Brandão (2005), Walter Benjamin (1987), Theodor Adorno (2003), Wayne Booth (2022) e Jaime Ginzburg (2012). The Suassuna narrator was also characterized using other relevant narrators (such as the narrator of Quéreas and Calírroe by Cáriton, and the narrator of Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov). The methodology used was qualitative, supported by bibliographic review and critical analysis. Although A História do Amor de Fernando e Isaura has a narrator with classic and modern features, is not restricted to this profile. Since it brings together diverse resources, such as those derived from Greek and Renaissance tragedy, medieval symbologies, and social aspects specific to realism-naturalism. This narrator presents himself as reliable, with a high degree of omniscience. The closeness between the characters varies in degree, with episodes in which they develop a greater bond with the character Isaura prevailing. Furthermore, the beginning and ending of the romance point to an overlap between the figures of author and narrator. This overlap produces a specific nature of engagement in the reader, which generates adherence to the ideas presented.