Paper short abstract:

This paper looks at the image of the loyal black slave in the novel As tardes de um pintor, ou as intrigas de um jesuíta, by the relatively unknown nineteeth-century Brazilian writer Antônio Gonçalves Teixeira e Sousa

Paper long abstract:

This paper looks at the image of the loyal black slave in the novel As tardes de um pintor, ou as intrigas de um jesuíta (1847), by the 19th century Brazilian Romantic writer Antônio Gonçalves Teixeira e Sousa. Teixeira e Sousa is recognised as the author of Brazil's first novel, O filho do pescador (1843). However, repeated criticism of Teixeira e Sousa's poor writing style within later (mainly twentieth-century) literary criticism has detracted significant value from Teixeira e Sousa's novels. Subsequently, little extensive research has been undertaken into Teixeira e Sousa's writings.

In contrast to twentieth-century criticism, recent studies suggest that Teixeira e Sousa's writings achieved a significant level of popularity among the literate members of Brazilian society during the nineteenth century, and even among more eminent Brazilian writers of the time, such as José de Alencar. In light of these studies, this paper proposes a more in-depth study of Teixeira e Sousa's novels. In particular, it focuses on Teixeira e Sousa's representation of the loyal black slave in his 1847 novel, which offers an alternative to the more popular Indianist element of Brazilian Romanticism. Looking into Teixeira e Sousa's own life history, and drawing on comparative cultural and literary occurrences, this paper discusses why the Brazilian Romantic chose to write so explicitly, and positively, about slavery at a time when Brazil was coming under increasing pressure to end the slave trade and abolish slavery. Key to this discussion are the concepts of education, race, and miscegenation.