This article analyzes the epic poem O Guesa, written by Brazilian poet Sousândrade. Making use of the methodological frames of Theater Studies and the concept of 'aurality', that implies the combination of a written text with its public reading, the author focusses on the text of epic representation in order to discuss the text not as belonging to the literary genre of epic poems but as a media of communication that relates poet and public. O Guesa contains several elements - i.e. modern heralds who pronounce the caracteristic syntax of 19th-century newspaper headlines as well as polysemic and homophonic strategies - that require a performative staging of the written epic text. Intertwining classical (epic) writing and modern literary styles (present in journalism), Sousândrade reformulates the question of literary expression. This is not only limited to the text level, but his reformulation also reflects the diversity of sources the work is based upon, repositioning O Guesa in a pancontinental and panmedial context.
Journalism; Brazilian literature; Sousândrade; Orality and literacy; Epic poems