Autobiographical motivation in Lima Barreto

Abstract

Intimate Diary is fundamental for Lima Barreto’s works because it reveals, at the same time, the revolt of a marginalized citizen and the narrative disposition of the writer, materialized in a militant literature which confronts the aesthetical and political values of the Belle Époque. The Diary registers Lima Barreto’s intimate confessions about domestic life trials, bureaucratic boredom, social disappointments, and also frustrations and heartbreaks of literary life. It also presents a literary outline of Lima Barreto’s work, exhibiting notes and appointments, an also novel chapters and plans that would never be written. This article analyzes, through a reading of Intimate Diary, the autobiographical motivations in Lima Barreto’s writings, aiming to show how his disappointment and historical conscience are mixed and transformed in his literature.