Joaquim Maria Machado De Assis

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (), often known by his surnames as Machado de Assis, ''Machado,'' or ''Bruxo do Cosme Velho''Vainfas, p. 505. (21 June 1839 – 29 September 1908), was a pioneer Brazilian novelist, poet, playwright and short story writer, widely regarded as the greatest writer of Brazilian literature. In 1897, he founded and became the first President of the Brazilian Academy of Letters. He was multilingual, having taught himself French, English, German and Greek later in life.

Born in , Rio de Janeiro, from a poor family, he was the grandson of freed slaves in a country where slavery would not be fully abolished until 49 years later. He barely studied in public schools and never attended university. With only his own intellect and autodidactism to rely on, he struggled to rise socially. To do so, he took several public positions, passing through the Ministry of Agriculture, Trade and Public Works, and achieving early fame in newspapers where he first published his poetry and chronicles.

Machado's work shaped the realist movement in Brazil. He became known for his wit and his eye-opening critiques of society. Generally considered to be Machado's greatest works are ''Dom Casmurro'' (1899), '' Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas'' ("Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas", also translated as ''Epitaph of a Small Winner'') and '' Quincas Borba'' (also known in English as ''Philosopher or Dog?''). In 1893, he published "A Missa do Galo" ("Midnight Mass"), often considered to be the greatest short story in Brazilian literature.Scarano, p. 775.

Biography

Birth and adolescence

Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis was born on 21 June 1839 in Rio de Janeiro, then capital of the Empire of Brazil.Scarano, p. 766.Vainfas, p. 504.''Enciclopédia Barsa'', p. 267. His parents were Francisco José de Assis, a wall painter, the son of freed slaves, and Maria Leopoldina da Câmara Machado, a Portuguese washerwoman from the Azores. He was born in Livramento country house, owned by ''Dona'' Maria José de Mendonça Barroso Pereira, widow of senator Bento Barroso Pereira, who protected his parents and allowed them to live with her. ''Dona'' Maria José became Joaquim's godmother; her brother-in-law, commendator Joaquim Alberto de Sousa da Silveira, was his godfather, and both were paid homage by giving their names to the baby. Machado had a sister who died young. Joaquim studied in a public school, but was not a good student. While helping to serve the masses, he met Father Silveira Sarmento, who became his Latin teacher and also a good friend.

When Joaquim was ten years old, his mother died, and his father took him along as he moved to São Cristóvão. Francisco de Assis met Maria Inês da Silva, and they married in 1854. Joaquim had classes in a school for girls only, thanks to his stepmother who worked there making candies. At night he learned French with an immigrant baker. In his adolescence, he met Francisco de Paulo Brito, who owned a bookstore, a newspaper and typography. On 12 January 1855, Francisco de Paula published the poem ''Ela'' ("Her") written by Joaquim, then 15 years old, in the newspaper ''Marmota Fluminense''. In the following year, he was hired as typographer's apprentice in the ''Imprensa Oficial'' (the Official Press, charged with the publication of Government measures), where he was encouraged as a writer by Manuel Antônio de Almeida, the newspaper's director and also a novelist. There he also met Francisco Otaviano, journalist and later liberal senator, and Quintino Bocaiuva, who decades later would become known for his role as a republican orator.Scarano, p. 767.

Early career and education

Francisco Otaviano hired Machado to work on the newspaper ''Correio Mercantil'' as a proofreader in 1858. He continued to write for the ''Marmota Fluminense'' and also for several other newspapers, but he did not earn much and had a humble life. As he did not live with his father anymore, it was common for him to eat only once a day for lack of money.

Around this time, he became a friend of the writer and liberal politician José de Alencar, who taught him English. From English literature, he was influenced by Laurence Sterne, William Shakespeare, Lord Byron and Jonathan Swift. He learned German years later and in his old age, Greek. He was invited by Bocaiúva to work at his newspaper ''Diário do Rio de Janeiro'' in 1860.Scarano, p. 769. Machado had a passion for theater and wrote several plays for a short time; his friend Bocaiúva concluded: "Your works are meant to be read and not played." He gained some notability and began to sign his writings as J. M. Machado de Assis, the way he would be known for posterity: Machado de Assis. He established himself in advanced Liberal Party circles by taking stands in defense of religious freedom and Ernest Renan's controversial ''Life of Jesus'' while attacking the venality of the clergy.

His father, Francisco de Assis, died in 1864. Machado learned of his father's death through acquaintances. He dedicated his compilation of poems called "''Crisálidas''" to his father: "To the Memory of Francisco José de Assis and Maria Leopoldina Machado de Assis, my Parents."Scarano, p. 770. With the Liberal Party's ascension to power at that time, Machado thought he might receive a patronage position that would help him improve his life. To his surprise, aid came from the Emperor Dom Pedro II, who hired him as director-assistant in the ''Diário Oficial'' in 1867, and knighted him as an honor. In 1888 Machado was made an officer of the Order of the Rose.

Marriage and family

In 1868 Machado met the Portuguese Carolina Augusta Xavier de Novais, five years older than he was. She was the sister of his colleague Faustino Xavier de Novais, for whom he worked on the magazine ''O Futuro''. Machado had a stammer and was extremely shy, short and lean. He was also very intelligent and well-learned. He married Carolina on 12 November 1869; although her parents, Miguel and Adelaide, and her siblings disapproved because Machado was of African descent and she was a white woman. They had no children.Scarano, p. 780.

Literature

Machado managed to rise in his bureaucratic career, first in the Agriculture Department. Three years later, he became the head of a section in it.Scarano, p. 773. He published two poetry books: ''Falenas'', in 1870, and ''Americanas'', in 1875. Their weak reception made him explore other literary genres.

He wrote five romantic novels: '' Ressurreição'', '' A Mão e a Luva'', '' Helena'' and ''Iaiá Garcia''. The books were a success with the public, but literary critics considered them mediocre. Machado suffered repeated attacks of epilepsy, apparently related to the hearing of the death of his old friend José de Alencar. He was left melancholic, pessimistic and fixed on death. His next book, marked by "a skeptical and realistic tone": '' Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas'' (Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas, also translated as ''Epitaph of a Small Winner''), is widely considered a masterpiece.Scarano, p. 774. By the end of the 1880s, Machado had gained wide renown as a writer.

Although he was opposed to slavery, he never spoke against it in public.Daniel, pp. 61–152. He avoided discussing politics. He was criticized by the abolitionist José do Patrocínio and by the writer Lima Barreto for staying away from politics, especially the cause of abolition. He was also criticized by them for having married a white woman. Machado was caught by surprise with the monarchy overthrown on 15 November 1889. Machado had no sympathy towards republicanism, as he considered himself a liberal monarchistBueno, p. 310. and venerated Pedro II, whom he perceived as "a humble, honest, well-learned and patriotic man, who knew how to make of a throne a chair or his simplicity without diminishing its greatness and respect." When a commission went to the public office where he worked to remove the picture of the former emperor, the shy Machado defied them: "The picture got in here by an order and it shall leave only by another order."

The birth of the Brazilian republic made Machado become more critical and an observer of the Brazilian society of his time. From then on, he wrote "not only the greatest novels of his time, but the greatest of all time of Brazilian literature." Works such as '' Quincas Borba'' ''(Philosopher or Dog?)'' (1891), ''Dom Casmurro'' (1899), ''Esaú e Jacó'' (1904) and ''Memorial de Aires'' (1908), considered masterpieces, were successes with both critics and the public. In 1893 he published "A Missa do Galo" ("Midnight Mass"), considered his greatest short story.

Later years

Machado de Assis, along with fellow monarchists such as Joaquim Nabuco, Manuel de Oliveira Lima, Afonso Celso, Viscount of Ouro Preto and Alfredo d'Escragnolle Taunay, and other writers and intellectuals, founded the Brazilian Academy of Letters. He was its first president, from 1897 to 1908, when he died. For many years, he requested that the government grant a proper headquarters to the Academy, which he managed to obtain in 1905.Scarano, p. 778. In 1902 he was transferred to the accountancy's directing board of the Ministry of Industry.

His wife Carolina Novais died on 20 October 1904, after 35 years of a "perfect married life". Feeling depressed and lonely, Machado died on 29 September 1908.

Narrative style

Machado's style is unique, and several literary critics have tried to describe it since 1897. He is considered by many the greatest Brazilian writer of all time, and one of the world's greatest novelists and short story writers. His chronicles do not share the same status. His poems are often misunderstood for the use of crude terms, sometimes associated to the pessimist style of Augusto dos Anjos, another Brazilian writer.
Machado de Assis was included on American literary critic Harold Bloom's list of the greatest 100 geniuses of literature, alongside writers such as Dante, Shakespeare and Cervantes. Bloom considers him the greatest black writer in Western literature; although, in Brazil, Machado is perceived as a Pardo.

His works have been studied by critics in various countries of the world, such as Giuseppe Alpi (Italy), Lourdes Andreassi (Portugal), Albert Bagby Jr. (US), Abel Barros Baptista (Portugal), Hennio Morgan Birchal (Brazil), Edoardo Bizzarri (Italy), Jean-Michel Massa (France), Helen Caldwell (US), John Gledson (England), Adrien Delpech (France), Albert Dessau (Germany), Paul B. Dixon (US), Keith Ellis (US), Edith Fowke (Canada), Anatole France

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