Mito e transfiguração em Órfãos do Eldorado, de Milton Hatoum

  • Cecília Rodrigues University of Georgia
Keywords: Amazon, Manaus, Indigenous myths, Enchanted city, Sfumato nature

Abstract

Drawing on João Loureiro’s characterization of the sfumato nature of Amazonian people, in which real and imaginary elements form a single experience, this paper analyzes the interconnection between myth and reality in Órfãos do Eldorado (2008), Milton Hatoum’s fourth novel. Understanding Amazonian culture to be imbued with impulses leading to both reason and enchantment, I argue that a transfiguration of the Eldorado myth occurs via its literary redefinition. This phenomenon emerges through dialogue with Constantine P. Cavafy’s poem, "Η Πόλις" 'The City.' Departing from the common portrayal of the Eldorado myth as a search for riches, Hatoum refashions it to represent a search for love.

Author Biography

Cecília Rodrigues, University of Georgia

Cecília Rodrigues is an Assistant Professor of Portuguese at the University of Georgia. She received her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Her research focuses on the construction of national identities, transnational literatures, and Brazilian fiction of the 21st century. Her current book project explores the construction of subjectivity in the works of Milton Hatoum. 

Published
2015-04-01
Section
Articles