Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in <i>The Centaur in the Garden</i>, by Moacyr Scliar

Boessio Ana; Dos Santos Rafael

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28

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Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar

Boessio Ana, Dos Santos Rafael

Published in International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 9, Issue 6)

Received: 25 April 2020 Accepted: 15 May 2020 Published: 29 December 2021

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Abstract

From a comparative approach between literature and cultural studies, this paper aims at analyzing the image of the centaur in The Centaur in the Garden, by Brazilian writer Moacyr Scliar, which becomes a reading key to analyze the human condition and their dichotomy reason-instinct. A well elaborated and involving narrative that, starting from Greek mythology, allows us to make a journey between the real and the imaginary; in which the presence of a fantastic being is inserted in daily relationships, causing uncomfortable impacts in a conservative society that struggles to keep its traditions alive. In the game of intertextualities present in the work, the centaurs are configured as a representation of the postmodern subject, marked by conflicts between tradition and modernity, and above all, by the fragmentation of identity, which has materialized in the physical hybridism of the characters. Throughout the work, their diverse condition causes the centaurs to face prejudice and intolerance, bringing to light some of the most relevant issues of postmodernity: issues of belonging and exclusion, recognition and social invisibility, highlighting the cultural marks of a traditional society exposed to constant conflicts as to the acceptance of the diverse, as to the universal condition of the Subject. Thus, understanding the text as an example of the fantastic real as defined by Jorge Luis Borges, and considering the text as a game between author and reader, where the text is the board and whose rules are launched by the author, Scliar's work is a complex game with multiple layers, which uses the fantastic as the main strategy for the unveiling of its interpretative possibilities. For this, in dialogue with the aesthetic proposal of the real fantastic, it will be used as theoretical reference the it will be used as theoretical reference the works by Alejo Carpentier, Irlemar Chiampi, Italo Calvino, Wolfgang Iser, Stuart Hall and Zygmunt Bauman.

Published in	International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 9, Issue 6)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28
Page(s)	384-391
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Brazilian Literature, Cultural Studies, Fantastic Realism

References

[1]	Scliar, Moacyr. “O Centauro no jardim” [“The centaur in the garden”]. São Paulo: Companhia das letras, 2011.
[2]	Weigert, Beatriz. “O fantástico e a narrativa no Brasil.” [“The Fantastic and the narrative in Brazil”]. Cenários Journal volume 1 (5), 2012. http://seer.uniritter.edu.br/index.php/cenarios/article/view/732 Accessed June 5, 2019.
[3]	Bauman, Zygmunt. “Modernidade líquida”. [Liquid modernity]. Translated by Plínio Dentzien. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2001.
[4]	Hall, Stuart. A identidade cultural na pós-modernidade. [Questions of cultural identity]. 11 ed. Rio de Janeiro: DP&A PUBLISHING, 2011.
[5]	Bulfinch, Thomas. “O livro de Ouro da Mitologia: Histórias de Deuses e Heróis” [The Age of Fable]. Translated by David Jardim. – 2 ed. Rio de Janeiro: Harper Collins Brasil 2016.
[6]	Ménard, René. “Mitologia greco-romana III [Greek-Roman Mythology III]. São Paulo: Opus, 1991.
[7]	Chiampi, Irlemar. O Realismo Maravilhoso: Forma e Ideologia no Romance Hispano-americano. [The Marvelous Realism: Form and Ideology in Spanish American Romance]. São Paulo: Perspectiva. (Debates Collection), 1980.
[8]	Menegusso, Gustavo. 2010. Da Literatura para o Jornalismo e do Jornalismo para a Literatura: Encontros (Im)possíveis. [From Literature to Journalism and from Journalism to Literature: (Im)possible Encounters]. Monography. Final Course Paper for Journalism Course. Federal University of Santa Maria. http://decom.cesnors.ufsm.br/tcc/files/2010/10/gustavom.pdf. Accessed June 5, 2019.
[9]	Dravet, Florence Marie. 2013. “Por um Jornalismo Latino-Americano Realista, Literário e Mágico: Uma Leitura das Crônicas de Gabriel García Marquez.” [“For a Realistic, Literary and Magic Latin American Journalism”]. Logos: Comunicação e Universidade 10 (1). http://www.epublicacoes.uerj.br/index.php/logos/article/view/7710. Accessed June 5, 2019.
[10]	Bachelard, Gaston. 2003. “A poética do Espaço”. [The Poetics of Space]. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2003.
[11]	Calvino, Italo.” Contos Fantásticos do Século XIX: O Fantástico Visionário e o Fantástico Cotidiano”. [Fantastic Short Stories from the 19th Century: The Visionary Fantastic and the Daily Fantastic]. Various translators. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2004.
[12]	Todorov, Tzvetan. “Introdução à Literatura Fantástica”. [The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre]. São Paulo: Editora Moraes, 1970.
[13]	Nejar, Carlos. “História da literatura brasileira: da carta de Caminha aos contemporâneos” [History of Brazilian Literature: from Caminha’s letter to the contemporary]. São Paulo: Leya, 2011.
[14]	Iser, Wolfgang. O jogo do texto. In: Jauss, Hans Robert et al. “A Literatura e o Leitor: Textos de Estética da Recepção”. [The Literature and the Reader: Texts of Reception Theory]. Selected, coordinated and translated by Luiz Costa Lima. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra, 105–118, 1979.
[15]	Perrone-moisés, Leyla. “Texto, Crítica, Escritura”. [Text, Criticism, Ecritture]. 3ª ed. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, Reading and Criticism Collection, 2005.
[16]	Coelho, Nelly Novaes. Dicionário crítico da literatura infantil e juvenil brasileira. 5 ed. rev. Atual. São Paulo: Companhia Editora Nacional, 2006.

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APA Style

Boessio Ana, Dos Santos Rafael. (2021). Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 9(6), 384-391. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28

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ACS Style

Boessio Ana; Dos Santos Rafael. Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2021, 9(6), 384-391. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28

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AMA Style

Boessio Ana, Dos Santos Rafael. Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar. Int J Lit Arts. 2021;9(6):384-391. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28,
  author = {Boessio Ana and Dos Santos Rafael},
  title = {Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {9},
  number = {6},
  pages = {384-391},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20210906.28},
  abstract = {From a comparative approach between literature and cultural studies, this paper aims at analyzing the image of the centaur in The Centaur in the Garden, by Brazilian writer Moacyr Scliar, which becomes a reading key to analyze the human condition and their dichotomy reason-instinct. A well elaborated and involving narrative that, starting from Greek mythology, allows us to make a journey between the real and the imaginary; in which the presence of a fantastic being is inserted in daily relationships, causing uncomfortable impacts in a conservative society that struggles to keep its traditions alive. In the game of intertextualities present in the work, the centaurs are configured as a representation of the postmodern subject, marked by conflicts between tradition and modernity, and above all, by the fragmentation of identity, which has materialized in the physical hybridism of the characters. Throughout the work, their diverse condition causes the centaurs to face prejudice and intolerance, bringing to light some of the most relevant issues of postmodernity: issues of belonging and exclusion, recognition and social invisibility, highlighting the cultural marks of a traditional society exposed to constant conflicts as to the acceptance of the diverse, as to the universal condition of the Subject. Thus, understanding the text as an example of the fantastic real as defined by Jorge Luis Borges, and considering the text as a game between author and reader, where the text is the board and whose rules are launched by the author, Scliar's work is a complex game with multiple layers, which uses the fantastic as the main strategy for the unveiling of its interpretative possibilities. For this, in dialogue with the aesthetic proposal of the real fantastic, it will be used as theoretical reference the it will be used as theoretical reference the works by Alejo Carpentier, Irlemar Chiampi, Italo Calvino, Wolfgang Iser, Stuart Hall and Zygmunt Bauman.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar
AU  - Boessio Ana
AU  - Dos Santos Rafael
Y1  - 2021/12/29
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
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AB  - From a comparative approach between literature and cultural studies, this paper aims at analyzing the image of the centaur in The Centaur in the Garden, by Brazilian writer Moacyr Scliar, which becomes a reading key to analyze the human condition and their dichotomy reason-instinct. A well elaborated and involving narrative that, starting from Greek mythology, allows us to make a journey between the real and the imaginary; in which the presence of a fantastic being is inserted in daily relationships, causing uncomfortable impacts in a conservative society that struggles to keep its traditions alive. In the game of intertextualities present in the work, the centaurs are configured as a representation of the postmodern subject, marked by conflicts between tradition and modernity, and above all, by the fragmentation of identity, which has materialized in the physical hybridism of the characters. Throughout the work, their diverse condition causes the centaurs to face prejudice and intolerance, bringing to light some of the most relevant issues of postmodernity: issues of belonging and exclusion, recognition and social invisibility, highlighting the cultural marks of a traditional society exposed to constant conflicts as to the acceptance of the diverse, as to the universal condition of the Subject. Thus, understanding the text as an example of the fantastic real as defined by Jorge Luis Borges, and considering the text as a game between author and reader, where the text is the board and whose rules are launched by the author, Scliar's work is a complex game with multiple layers, which uses the fantastic as the main strategy for the unveiling of its interpretative possibilities. For this, in dialogue with the aesthetic proposal of the real fantastic, it will be used as theoretical reference the it will be used as theoretical reference the works by Alejo Carpentier, Irlemar Chiampi, Italo Calvino, Wolfgang Iser, Stuart Hall and Zygmunt Bauman.
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Author Information

Boessio Ana

Department of Literary Studies, Federal University of Pampa, Jaguar?o, Brazil
Dos Santos Rafael

Secretariat of Public Administration, Jaguar?o City, Brazil

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Boessio Ana, Dos Santos Rafael. (2021). Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 9(6), 384-391. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28

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ACS Style

Boessio Ana; Dos Santos Rafael. Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2021, 9(6), 384-391. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28

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AMA Style

Boessio Ana, Dos Santos Rafael. Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar. Int J Lit Arts. 2021;9(6):384-391. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28

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@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28,
  author = {Boessio Ana and Dos Santos Rafael},
  title = {Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar},
  journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
  volume = {9},
  number = {6},
  pages = {384-391},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20210906.28},
  abstract = {From a comparative approach between literature and cultural studies, this paper aims at analyzing the image of the centaur in The Centaur in the Garden, by Brazilian writer Moacyr Scliar, which becomes a reading key to analyze the human condition and their dichotomy reason-instinct. A well elaborated and involving narrative that, starting from Greek mythology, allows us to make a journey between the real and the imaginary; in which the presence of a fantastic being is inserted in daily relationships, causing uncomfortable impacts in a conservative society that struggles to keep its traditions alive. In the game of intertextualities present in the work, the centaurs are configured as a representation of the postmodern subject, marked by conflicts between tradition and modernity, and above all, by the fragmentation of identity, which has materialized in the physical hybridism of the characters. Throughout the work, their diverse condition causes the centaurs to face prejudice and intolerance, bringing to light some of the most relevant issues of postmodernity: issues of belonging and exclusion, recognition and social invisibility, highlighting the cultural marks of a traditional society exposed to constant conflicts as to the acceptance of the diverse, as to the universal condition of the Subject. Thus, understanding the text as an example of the fantastic real as defined by Jorge Luis Borges, and considering the text as a game between author and reader, where the text is the board and whose rules are launched by the author, Scliar's work is a complex game with multiple layers, which uses the fantastic as the main strategy for the unveiling of its interpretative possibilities. For this, in dialogue with the aesthetic proposal of the real fantastic, it will be used as theoretical reference the it will be used as theoretical reference the works by Alejo Carpentier, Irlemar Chiampi, Italo Calvino, Wolfgang Iser, Stuart Hall and Zygmunt Bauman.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Conversations in the Garden: The Fantastic and the Postmodern in The Centaur in the Garden, by Moacyr Scliar
AU  - Boessio Ana
AU  - Dos Santos Rafael
Y1  - 2021/12/29
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28
T2  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JF  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
JO  - International Journal of Literature and Arts
SP  - 384
EP  - 391
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2331-057X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20210906.28
AB  - From a comparative approach between literature and cultural studies, this paper aims at analyzing the image of the centaur in The Centaur in the Garden, by Brazilian writer Moacyr Scliar, which becomes a reading key to analyze the human condition and their dichotomy reason-instinct. A well elaborated and involving narrative that, starting from Greek mythology, allows us to make a journey between the real and the imaginary; in which the presence of a fantastic being is inserted in daily relationships, causing uncomfortable impacts in a conservative society that struggles to keep its traditions alive. In the game of intertextualities present in the work, the centaurs are configured as a representation of the postmodern subject, marked by conflicts between tradition and modernity, and above all, by the fragmentation of identity, which has materialized in the physical hybridism of the characters. Throughout the work, their diverse condition causes the centaurs to face prejudice and intolerance, bringing to light some of the most relevant issues of postmodernity: issues of belonging and exclusion, recognition and social invisibility, highlighting the cultural marks of a traditional society exposed to constant conflicts as to the acceptance of the diverse, as to the universal condition of the Subject. Thus, understanding the text as an example of the fantastic real as defined by Jorge Luis Borges, and considering the text as a game between author and reader, where the text is the board and whose rules are launched by the author, Scliar's work is a complex game with multiple layers, which uses the fantastic as the main strategy for the unveiling of its interpretative possibilities. For this, in dialogue with the aesthetic proposal of the real fantastic, it will be used as theoretical reference the it will be used as theoretical reference the works by Alejo Carpentier, Irlemar Chiampi, Italo Calvino, Wolfgang Iser, Stuart Hall and Zygmunt Bauman.
VL  - 9
IS  - 6
ER  -

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