The visualization of the national landscape: Appraisals of the local colour in José de Alencar and Euclides da Cunha

Abstract

Local colour, a concept widely used during the 19th century, still lacks further analytical depth. Frequently referred to as a criterion that legitimates or disproves literary and historiographic works, the local colour, however, does not seem to have minimal meanings or comprehensive theories. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the semantic variability that constitutes the concept of local colour and, at the same time, to suggest possibilities for its apprehension. To this end, categories such as “pictorial rhetoric” and “content of form” are used to reflect on the implications and effects of the use of local colour from the second half of the 19th century onwards. These notions allow us to map and contrast the uses of local colour in the works of two important authors for the reflection on nationality in the period: Sonhos d’ouro (1872) by José de Alencar and Os sertões (1902) by Euclides da Cunha. As a hypothesis, it is suggested that, although using the same concept of local colour, Alencar and Euclides obtain different results in the project of delimitation and description of the national landscape.

Keywords: local colour, José de Alencar, Euclides da Cunha, pictorial rhetoric, content of form.