Guest lecturer Dr. Paulo Dutra gave his perspective on a well known Brazilian literary figure in a presentation on Oct. 15 titled “Machado de Assis, the Warlock of Cosme-Velho: Race and Identity in Brazil.”
The talk was organized as part of a Hispanic Heritage Month program in association with ETSU’s Mary V. Jordan Multicultural Center, Language and Culture Resource Center and Africana Studies Program. Dutra spoke over Zoom at 5 p.m. to a gathering of students and faculty.
The presentation tackled the writer and cultural icon’s complicated relationship with race and identity, explaining and dissenting from several academic perspectives surrounding the figure.
Machado de Assis was a late 19th century Brazilian writer of mixed African and Brazilian descent who today, according to Dutra, is often seen through a tinted lens in regards to race as historians and media tended to white-wash his legacy.
Dutra, who is currently an assistant professor of Portuguese at the University of New Mexico, gave several examples ranging from the lightening of the writer’s portraits in Brazilian magazines of the time and the use of white actors to portray Machado de Assis in modern commercials. Modern movements to reshape his image revolve around the study of his true appearance and beliefs despite his reclusive nature.
The writings of Machado De Assis are standard education for most Brazilian students, but critics have charged that he failed to speak out against the injustices of the time, such as the existence of slavery within Brazil. Dutra however, proposed that he was simply limited by the societal constraints of the time and used his writings and lack of explicit racial contexts to express his views more subtly.
“Has he not presented them as people, and not Black people?” asked Dutra. “Maybe he achieved what Tony Morrison did years ago, because she said, when she commented on the short story, she said ‘I tried to erase race and see what happened.’”
Event host Felipe Fiuza, an assistant professor of Spanish at ETSU, opened the meeting for questions where Dutra discussed his experience with race within Brazil and the United States, as well as discussing his upcoming project regarding rap as poetry in American and Brazilian contexts.
Fiuza also spoke to Machado De Assis’ legacy and his title of “Warlock,” which he explained was affected by his African heritage. In Portuguese, the masculine form of “Warlock” translates to “Bruxo” and is associated with migrated Afro-Brazilian religions, while “Wizard” translates to “Mago” is associated with Europe and whiteness.
“Historically, Black culture in Brazil has always been — although it is celebrated — it is still seen in a demonized way,” said Dutra.
In closing, Dutra encouraged readers to “choose your own Machado” and to try reading the esteemed writer’s work in a new light.
