A narrativa narcisística em O sol se põe em São Paulo, de Bernardo Carvalho

Abstract

This article intends to investigate how the narrative of the novel O sol se põe em São Paulo, by Bernardo Carvalho, brings into evidence aspects of its condition as a textual genre inside its own plot. The narrator of the novel makes explicit that what the reader has in his hands is a partial and incomplete portrait of a story, whose organization will be shared between both of them. The debate over its discursive and artificial nature inside the novel itself is for the scholar Linda Hutcheon one of the most distinguishing characteristics of contemporary fiction. She calls this kind of metafiction narcissistic narrative, making use of the mythological Greek image of the character who falls in love with his own reflection. Likewise, the modern novel would obsessive about discussing itself, instead of coveting the wholesome mimesis of reality intended in its rise during the XVIII century. Therefore, this research intends to identify elements in the Bernardo Carvalho’s novel that justify its aligning to these contemporary narcissistic narratives.