A estética do ressentimento no universo de Arthur Engrácio

Abstract

The object of this dissertation is the study of the concept of the “aesthetics of resentment” in the fiction of Arthur Engrácio, as found in the works Restinga (1976), Ajuste de contos (1978), Contos do mato (1981), Estórias do rio (1984), 20 contos amazônicos (1986), Outras histórias de submundo (1988), and A vingança do boto (1995). He also authored the novel Áspero chão de Santa Rita (1986), grounded in the power dynamics and moral suffering present in the Amazonian rubber plantations between 1880 and 1910, the height of the rubber boom. The study aims to analyze, through the author’s short stories, the representations of the rubber cycle, articulated along three central axes that explore the transformation of man as conceived by Arthur Engrácio, revealing the social and subjective aspects of a period marked by oppression and resistance. The first axis investigates the figure of the subjugated man, portrayed as a rubber tapper subjected to an extractivist power structure in which employers held control over life and death. This scenario is analyzed in light of Euclides da Cunha's studies (2021), highlighting domination and moral suffering through the concepts of sovereign power and bare life by Giorgio Agamben (2010). The second axis focuses on the resentful man, as defined by psychoanalyst Maria Rita Kehl (2004), whose narrative emerges from a contained revolt, the result of a silent rumination that permeates Engrácio’s characters. This feeling operates both as the engine of the narrative and as a response to the extractivist system. Finally, the third axis addresses the rebellious man who breaks free from submission by surpassing the limits of acceptability. This figure is represented by the caboclo who abandons passivity, takes up arms, and directly challenges the oppressor, a movement primarily analyzed through the lens of Michel Foucault (1999) and his concept of the rupture of the disciplinary society. The rebellious man symbolizes an unprecedented protagonism, marking a turning point in the trajectory of Engrácio’s characters. This research adopts a qualitative, bibliographic approach, characterized by the collection of data through immersion in written materials. The analysis is supported by a theoretical framework structured into three previously outlined axes, each addressing distinct and complementary aspects at the intersection of literature, history, and psychoanalysis. The study highlights the literary quality of the author's work, fictionalizing the historical and social relations of the Amazonian rubber plantations, and bringing to light the moral dilemmas and the developments of resentment within the universe of the riverside man.