A representação literária da nação brasileira em policarpo quaresma: entre o imaginário social da primeira república e a realidade material

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the cultural representations present in the work Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma by Lima Barreto, which denounces the construction of an idealized and homogeneous national identity, in contrast with the diversity and plurality that characterize Brazil. Set in the early days of the Republic, the work is analyzed from the perspective of the historical materialist dialectical method, which allows for an understanding of the relationships between the literary narrative and the historical-social context that shapes it. Building on reflections about memorial and cultural practices in literature, the study discusses how Lima Barreto deconstructs a romanticized and progressive view of national identity. In Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma, the author employs an anti-romantic approach by criticizing the ideal of national homogeneity through Policarpo Quaresma, a protagonist who is both caricatured and idealistic. This construction engages with the romantic tradition, as Policarpo embodies national utopias, but also becomes the target of a sharp critique that exposes the contradictions between the proclaimed ideals and the unequal reality of Brazilian society. Barreto uses Policarpo’s idealistic character as a distorted mirror, denouncing the failure of attempts to achieve national unification under a homogeneous bias. Furthermore, the work incorporates the idea of cannibalism without hierarchies, re-signifying diverse cultural influences without subordinating them. Barreto values elements of popular culture and challenges the exclusionary theories of his time, offering a radical critique of the elitist idealization of Brazilian identity. The study also explores Lima Barreto’s role as an intellectual committed to social transformation, who sees literature as a tool to question and propose alternatives to Brazil in his era. Finally, the connections between the historical and political context of the nascent Republic and the author’s biographical framework are debated, in which autobiographical elements are identified and projected in his literature.