José de Alencar – författare

Jose de Alencar's prose-poem Iracema, first published in 1865, is a classic of Brazilian literature--perhaps the most widely-known piece of fiction within Brazil, and the most widely-read of Alencar's many works. Set in the sixteenth century, it is an extremely romantic portrayal of a doomed love between a Portuguese soldier and an Indian maiden. Iracema reflects the gingerly way that mid-nineteenth cenury Brazil dealt with race mixture and multicultural experience. Precisely because of its nineteenth-century romanticism, Iracema strongly contributed to a Brazilian sense of nationhood - contemporary Brazilian writers and literary critics still cite it as a foundation for their own work.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged . . ." that a single woman in possession of a good character but no fortune must be in want of a wealthy husband-that is, if she is the heroine of a nineteenth-century novel. Senhora, by contrast, turns the tables on this familiar plot. Its strong-willed, independent heroine AurÉlia uses newly inherited wealth to "buy back" and exact revenge on the fiancÉ who had left her for a woman with a more enticing dowry.This exciting Brazilian novel, originally published in 1875 and here translated into English for the first time, raises many questions about traditional gender relationships, the commercial nature of marriage, and the institution of the dowry. While conventional marital roles triumph in the end, the novel still offers realistic insights into the social and economic structure of Rio de Janeiro in the mid-1800s. With its unexpected plot, it also opens important new perspectives on the nineteenth-century Romantic novel.

Na coleção Romancistas Essenciais o crítico August Nemo apresenta autores que fazem parte da história da literatura em língua portuguesa.Neste volume temos José de Alencar,um escritor e político brasileiro. É notável como escritor por ter sido o fundador do romance de temática nacional, e por ser o patrono da cadeira fundada por Machado de Assis na Academia Brasileira de Letras.Não deixe de conferir os demais volumes desta série!Essa obra inclui:- O Guarani- Cinco Minutos

Reconhecido como o pai do romance nacional, José de Alencar também se destacou no campo da crônica. Suas crônicas ajudaram a estabelecer as bases do gênero, abordando temas como costumes, cotidiano, mundo das artes e a vida na cidade. Este livro convida os leitores a apreciar a habilidade literária de José de Alencar, um dos grandes nomes da crônica brasileira, em uma seleção de seus melhores textos.