Abstract
Evoking Quincas Borba and Esau and Jacob in particular, in the first essay presented here, Antonio Candido analyzes Machado de Assis as a creator of situations that "mortify" all men, who are only left with a leveling of values and disenchantment. He perceives the writer as an "absolute denier," clearheaded in light of fatal, metaphysical and not social discord. In the second essay, brooding on Plinio Barreto's meaning of Machadian “decorum,” Candido notes that Machado de Assis’s stylistic elegance and "self-respect" assume individual and social stress. When defending non-dogmatic criticism, which blends impressionism and erudition into the work of analysis and is driven by a nonconformist view against social injustice, Antonio Candido constituted the best Brazilian critical tradition.
Humanitism; decorum; impressionistic criticism; Plínio Barreto