A NARRATIVA MÍTICA, HERÓICA E CRÍTICA DA GUERRA

DIÁLOGO POÉTICO ENTRE A GRUTA AMERICANA, DE SILVA ALVARENGA, E O CANTO HERÓICO, DE CLÁUDIO MANUEL DA COSTA

Abstract

Manoel Inácio da Silva Alvarenga has a vast, eclectic and rich body of work, characterized by a critical spirit and obedience to the simplicity and naturalness typical of Arcadianism, but which also includes mythical and fantastic narratives. Such is the case of the poem A Gruta Americana, published in 1779 and written in Minas Gerais, two years after Alvarenga returned from Portugal. The poem addresses the participation of the captaincy of Minas Gerais in the troops assembled to face the Spanish invasions of southern Brazil in early 1777. The poem composes a large allegorical picture, in which the history of the war is told by an Indigenous entity who inhabits a cave carved into the hinterlands. The magical chant that echoes from the cave is preceded by a narrative that details the setting, characters and elements hidden there. This paper proposes an analogy of this work with Cláudio Manuel da Costa’s Canto Heroico, poem that addresses the same theme. One can observe perspectives and styles that are, at times, incredibly similar and completely different, but which establish rich and fruitful dialogues, of great aesthetic quality, as was common among the overseas Arcadians, illustrious representatives of 18th century Brazilian poetry.