Real and Imaginal Geography in the Devil to Pay in the Backlands

ABSTRACT

We propose a reading of the “Liso do Sussuarão”, described in The Devil to pay in the Backlands, as imaginal territory. In face of Bolle's (2004) theoretical considerations about geography as a system of thought and Corbin's (1976) “mundus imaginalis”, we approach the question of names. We conclude that, in the novel, language problems unite with those of limits, boundaries and territory in order to build an intermediated world.

KEYWORDS
Literature; Imaginary; Geography; João Guimarães Rosa; The Devil to pay in the Backlands