The Owl's Hoot: Gothic elements in S. Bernardo, by Graciliano Ramos
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.1984-1124.i39p336-361Keywords:
Gothic, Brazilian Gothic, Southern Gothic, Regionalist Novel, Horror, Comparative LiteratureAbstract
This article aims to investigate the traces of a Gothic discourse in S. Bernardo (1934) by Graciliano Ramos. The analysis is conducted by identifying conventional elements of the Gothic tradition present in the novel — such as the locus horribilis, the monstrous character, and the ghostly presence of the past. Although the novel does not conform to a typically Gothic narrative, it is understood that the Gothic poetics permeating the text is operationalized according to the conventions of this tradition, expressing the anxieties of the narrator-protagonist regarding modernity and the decline of the rural patriarchal figure that shapes the foundation of the drama unfolding in the pages of the book, particularly in Chapter XIX. Additionally, parallels are drawn between the use of Gothic discourse in Graciliano Ramos's work and that of another author often associated with him, William Faulkner, through a comparative analysis with the novel Absalom, Absalom! (1936). Finally, a discussion is proposed regarding the possibility of situating S. Bernardo within attempts to categorize Brazilian Gothic.
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