Machado, Job, and the Enigma of Suffering

Abstract

This review examines the book Machado de Assis e o livro de Jó, by Kenia Maria de Almeida Pereira, which investigates the intertextual relations between Machado de Assis’s work and the Hebrew Bible, with emphasis on the reworking of Chapter 38 of the Book of Job in the poem “Soneto.” The author demonstrates that Machado establishes a simultaneously parodic and paraphrastic dialogue with the biblical text, oscillating between reverent affinity and carnivalization. The study encompasses both poetry and prose, identifying the presence of Job’s imagery in different works and highlighting the centrality of suffering in the construction of Machado’s poetics. By articulating Brazilian literature, biblical tradition, and literary theory, the book contributes to Machado studies and to the field of literature and Hebrew Bible interfaces.