Initially, the article engages in a reading of the most apparent level of "Instinto de nacionalidade", pointing out its connection with romantic theories about the meaning of "nation" and "national literature," a level where Machado confronts indigenist literature, local color, and American customs as a paradigm to define the nationality of a literary text. On another level, the essay points out the hesitations, negations and oppositions that inform the text, suggesting Machado's denial of romantic theories as an exclusive model, in order finally to suggest a more open notion of what would constitute "national literature": it is all a matter of poetry. And then the article analyzes the development of Machado as a writer of fiction, when he would come to exercise the theses developed in "Instinto." Finally, this text poses some questions about the importance of the essay for local criticism and literary history.
"Instinto de nacionalidade"; national literature; nationality; Romanticism