Interiors and Narrative: The Spatial Poetics of Machado de Assis, Eça de Queirós, and Leopoldo Alas

260 Pages·2012·2.174 MB·English

by  Estela Vieira

Interiors and Narrative
Bucknell University Press Latin American
Studies Series
Series Editor: Aníbal González, Yale
University
Dealingwithfar-reachingquestionsofhistoryandmodernity,languageandselfhood,and
power and ethics, Latin American literature sheds light on the many-faceted nature of
LatinAmericanlife,aswellasonthehumanconditionasawhole.Thisseriesofbooks
provides a forum for some of the best criticism on Latin American literature in a wide
rangeofcriticalapproaches,withanemphasisonworksthatproductivelycombineschol-
arship with theory. Acknowledging the historical links and cultural affinities between
Latin American and Iberian literatures, the series welcomes a consideration of Spanish
andPortuguesetextsandtopics,whilealsoprovidingaspaceofconvergenceforscholars
workinginRomancestudies,comparativeliterature,culturalstudies,andliterarytheory.
TitlesintheSeries
FiguralConquistadors:RewritingtheNewWorld’sDiscoveryandConquestinMexican
andRiverPlaceNovelsofthe1980sand1990s,byMarkA.Hernández
LittoraloftheLetter:Saer’sArtofNarration,byGabrielRiera
EmbodyingResistance:GriseldaGambaroandtheGrotesque,byDianneMarieZandstra
CityFictions:Language,Body,andSpanishAmericanUrbanSpace,byAmandaHolmes
StagingWords,PerformingWorlds:IntextualityandNationinContemporaryLatin
AmericanTheater,byGailBulman
CreatingtheHybridIntellectual:Subject,Space,andtheFeminineintheNarrativeof
JoséMariáArguedas,byAnneLambright
OutofBounds:IslandsandtheDemarcationofIdentityintheHispanicCaribbean,by
DaraE.Goldman
TheEndoftheWordasTheyKnewIt:WritingExperiencesoftheArgentineSouth,by
Eva-LynnAliciaJagoe
Epic,Empire,andCommunityintheAtlanticWorld:SilvestredeBalboa’sEspejode
paciencia,byRaúlMarrero-Fente
HomeIsWherethe(He)artIs:TheFamilyRomanceinLateTwentieth-CenturyMexican
andArgentineTheater,bySharonMagnarelli
FromLacktoExcess:“Minor”ReadingsofLatinAmericanColonialDiscourse,by
YolandaMartínez-SanMiguel
VoicesOutofAfricainTwentieth-CenturySpanishCaribbeanLiterature,byJuliaCuervo
Hewitt
OntheDarkSideoftheArchive:NationandLiteratureinSpanishAmericaattheTurnof
theCentury,byJuanCarolosGonzálezEspita
NewWorldLiteracy:WritingandCultureacrosstheAtlantic,1500–1700,byCarlos
AlbertoGonzálezSánchaez
RicardoPalma’sTradiciones:IlluminatingGenderandNation,byElisaSampsonVera
Tudela
TheSpanishAmericanCrónicaModernista,Temporality,andMaterialCulture,byAn-
drewR.Reynolds
Interiors and Narrative
The Spatial Poetics of Machado de Assis,
Eça de Queirós, and Leopoldo Alas
Estela Vieira
PublishedbyBucknellUniversityPress
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Copyright©2013byEstelaVieira
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany
electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,
withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote
passagesinareview.
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ISBN978-1-61148-432-8(cloth:alk.paper)--ISBN978-1-61148-433-5(electronic)
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PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
ForJohannes

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction:InteriorsandNarrative 1
PartOne:FurnishingtheNovel 39
PartTwo:InteriorsandInteriority 101
PartThree:TheDiscourseofInteriors 161
Epilogue:FromVoltaire’sGardentoGaldós’sRooms 217
WorksCited 227
Index 235
AbouttheAuthor 249
vii

Acknowledgements
I thank my mentors at the University of Virginia, Donald Shaw, David Ha-
berly,andFernandoOperé,fortheirguidanceandfriendshipandforsupport-
ing me in my wish to work in both Spanish and Portuguese. I owe my
deepest gratitude to my professors at Yale University, K. David Jackson,
NoëlValis,RobertoGonzálezEchevarría,andRolenaAdornowhoreadthis
manuscript in its earliest stages and who, along with my friends Ana María
Mutis,AnkeBirkenmaier,andAnaValdez, fostered somethemostintellec-
tually stimulating years of my life. For helping me understand Heidegger I
thank my colleagues in a theory reading group at Indiana University. I am
grateful to Darlene Sadlier and Luciana Namorato for their support and for
theirdevotiontoaPortugueseprogramIamproudtobeapartof.Ithankmy
colleagues in Spanish and Portuguese for providing a stimulating environ-
ment to work in. I am especially indebted to Heitor Martins, Josep Sobrer,
Consuelo López-Morillas, Catherine Larson, Edgar Illas, and Reyes Vila-
Belda. I would also like to thank friends and colleagues, Eyal Peretz, Fritz
Breithaupt,MichelChaouli,MarieDeer,HerbertMarks,PerryHodges,Kris-
ta Maglen, and Pedro Machado, for making Bloomington a delightful and
thought-provokingplacetolive.
I thank my APSA colleagues for ongoing dialogues and their dedication
to the field of Portuguese studies, especially Kathryn Sanchez, Anna Klo-
bucka, Pedro Monteiro, Paulo de Medeiros, and Victor Mendes. My col-
leaguesandfriendsattheUniversityofLisbon,HelenaBuescu,FernandaGil
Costa, Ângela Fernandes, Clara Rowland and Orlanda de Azevedo, for pro-
viding me with an intellectual home in Portugal. Lidia Santos invited me to
NewYorktopresentonMachadodeAssis.TheInstitutoCamõesandFLAD
contributedresearchsupportovertheyearsandtheopportunitytoattendthe
seminar at the Foundation Eça de Queirós and work with Isabel Pires de
ix