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Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria

Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria (zhwäkēm' murē'u mushä'doo di usēz') [key], 1839–1908, Brazilian novelist, b. Rio de Janeiro. Educated by a priest, he became a typesetter, a proofreader, and finally a journalist. His poetry and short stories were well received, but his reputation as the greatest of Brazilian writers rests upon his realistic novels. His major novels are Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas (1881, tr. Epitaph of a Small Winner, 1952, The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas, 1998), Quincas Borba (1891, tr. Philosopher or Dog?, 1954, 1998), and Dom Casmurro (1900, tr. 1953, 1998). They are distinguished by psychological insight and a profound awareness of social conditions; their objective attitude stands in sharp contrast to the prevalent romantic tendency of the time. His pessimistic view of life is impelled by irony.

See studies by H. Caldwell (1970) and J. Gledson (1984).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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