Assim na terra como no mar

as relações raciais ilustradas no Bom Crioulo de Adolfo Caminha (1895)

Abstract

The present text aims to analyze the representations of the black subject in the last decade of the nineteenth century through the novel Bom Crioulo, by the naturalist author Adolfo Caminha. Originally published in 1895, this work is considered one of the most representative productions of the brazilian literary naturalism. Caminha, a republican writer and abolitionist, experienced the effervescence of republicanism of the so-called 1870’s generation. The idea of civilizational progress, sustained by scientific thought, and linked to republican eagerness, however, generates a contradiction: in what way will it be possible to ensure freedom and equality to all men, and at the same time keep the black population in their subaltern position? This dilemma, vehemently exposed by the author of the work here analyzed, is the object of our inquiries.

Keywords: Bom Crioulo; republican modernity; racial relations.