O leitor contemporâneo e a obra de Machado de Assis: uma análise discursiva da crítica amadora em blogs

Abstract

In this study, we attempt to analyze the readings of a contemporary, peculiar community of Brazilian readers consisting of those who are at the same time new readers and new critics of Machado de Assis. To this end, our analysis investigated reviews posted by readers on their personal and/or public blogs, about works they read. We turn to French Discourse Analysis starting from its concern about the description and analysis of the forms of text production and interpretation, in particular, from its attention to constraints that act on each and every statement, as discussed in the oeuvre of Michel Foucault and Michel Pecheux. Additionally, we resort to Cultural History and to the notions of representation and appropriation, as presented by Roger Chartier in his works of historical viewpoint on the reader and reading. Such theories guided the analysis of a corpus consisting of blog posts dedicated to the review of classic works of Machado de Assis, namely "The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas", Dom Casmurro" and "Counselor Aires's Memoirs . Such reviews were produced and published between the years 2000 and 2010 by readers native to the digital age who, although occupying the position of apprentices with regard to commenting / criticizing literary works, assume the role of amateur critics" and post their comments based on their reading of those works. The analysis of this corpus seeks to raise some common traces of this reading community s profile that shares, among other characteristics, its relative familiarity with the world of production and circulation of texts on the Internet. More specifically, we seek those traits by analyzing the manner these readers formulate and lay down in their comments their reading of such works which, originally, where not aimed at them. The hypothesis that guided our investigation was that based on the Discourse Analysis assumption that every statement is regulated by a discursive order that operates at the moment of its production and interpretation, controlling it, limiting it it is prevented that anyone makes a statement, or interprets one, on his or her own terms. As it is proper, therefore, of the discursive functioning, those readers comments are generally governed by two orders of statement two sources of coercion that to some extent impose what and how to enunciate from this position of commentator of classic works of Brazilian literature. The first one concerns the regulation of these comments by the universe of authorized and prestigious criticism. The second relates to the constraints arising from the operation of the genres of digital origin, as the blog, and from the computer support itself. Those define specific ways to make a statement, given the new possibilities of production / circulation of texts (syncretic, brief, available / transmitted quickly and massively) and the audience to whom they are addressed. Thus, throughout this thesis we seek to note probable continuities and / or discontinuities in the discursive representations of the professional reader / critic and the amateur reader / critic of Brazilian canonical works of literature, with an emphasis on the characterization of the latter from the discourse analysis of what and how such works are commented. This analysis allowed us to confirm our hypothesis about these amateur readers / critics: producing a critical review appropriate to the medium and the genre of digital origin, those are presented in fairly autonomous, personal and even irreverent, desecrating ways about classics of literature. These do not match, thus, the style of official criticism. But, interestingly enough, such reader / critic says what he/she says, and in the way he/she says it, guided and limited by parameters of the latter order, as we will demonstrate.