Realism and satire in Recordações do escrivão Isaías Caminha

Abstract

This article discusses the mixture of realism and satire in Lima
Barreto’s novel Recordações do escrivão Isaías Caminha, published in 1909. The coexistence of the two genres in the novel tended to be considered by the critic as a composition fault, with serious damages to the narrative unity. It is proposed here to examine such disagreement in relation to that one identified by Roberto Schwarz in the novel Senhora, both characterized by the duality of tones and the disruption of unity, articulating formal development difficulties of Isaias’ story to the long term problem of Brazilian literature to treating local realities in European model of novel.