REVIEWS: Library and Information Science Research
Electronic Journal ISSN 1058-6768
1999 Volume 9 Issue 1; March.
Bi-annual LIBRE9N1 REVIEWS
Reviews in this issue:
_Dom Casmurro: A Novel_ by Joachim Maria Machado de Assis,
translated from the Portuguese by John Gledson.
Reviewed by Hsaio-Hung Lee
Sellars, Jane. _Charlotte Bronte_.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Malia
Heller, Jules, and Nancy G. Heller. _North American Women Artists
of the Twentieth Century.
Reviewed by Tony Skeats
----------
_Dom Casmurro: A Novel_ by Joachim Maria Machado de Assis, translated
from the Portuguese by John Gledson. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. 258
p. ISBN: 0195193984
"Narrative Insecurity in Fictional Autobiography: Dom_Casmurro"
The novel,_Dom_Casmurro_, fits well into the genre of fictional autobiography prevalent
especially in Victorian literature, and exemplified by such masterpieces as _Jane_Eyre_,
_Villette_, and _David_Copperfield_. The mimetic nature of fictional autobiographies,
which describe and explain the world through the authors' own experiences, are precursors
to novels of realism. Therefore, fictional autobiographies seem to deliver to the
reader the narrator's personal history, as Charles Dickens' _David_Copperfield_
whose subtitle reads _the Personal History of David Copperfield_implies.
Narratively speaking, a typical narrative of fictional autobiography follows a
traditional pattern of chronology that has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Fictional autobiographical text is unified by the voice of "I". In other words,
the use of "I" creates textual continuity, provides an authentic interpretation
of the meaning of the narrative history, and most importantly, reinforces the
narrator's self identity.
When David Copperfield starts the narrative of his personal life, the uncertainty to
hold onto the central position is obvious: "Whether I shall turn out to be the
hero of my own life or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these
pages must show" (Dickens, 1950, p. 1). Like Dickens' problematic "I"
as the source of struggle, Bento Santiago (Bentinho), the narrator, is not exactly
sure what will be the title for his book: "Still, I couldn't find a better
title for my narrative: if I can't find another before I finish the book, I'll keep
this one" (Machado de Assis, 1997, p. 5). The author is obviously not
comfortable with his chosen title, _Dom_Casmurro_ for the implication that it
carries. However, behind the camouflage of the title and the pompous image of
aristocracy, the story of Bentinho, represents a text of narrative insecurity.
Stated clearly in Chapter II, the book is "to tie the two ends of life
together, and bring back youth in old age" (Machado de Assis, 1997, p. 5).
"The same contrast between life inside the house, which is placid, and the
noisy world outside" (Machado de Assis, 1997, p. 5) is the exact reverse of his
writing that records the overflow of emotion, turmoil of jealousy inside the house
and monotonous life outside. To Bentinho, life is like acting on the stage.
The narrator has first brought this Renaissance metaphor to the attention of the
reader in Chapter VIII and IX. The famous quotation "Life is an opera"
(Machado de Assis, 1997, p. 17) has caught the attention of literary criticism to label
his narrative ambiguous (Somerlate-Barbosa, 1992, p. 235). From the very beginning,
the narrator's confession of his failure to reconstruct the events and his own
experiences point to the absence of the "I," which is the center of the
narration: "If it was only others that were missing, all well and good: one
gets over the loss of other people as best one can; but I myself am missing, and
that lacuna is all-important" (Machado de Assis, 1997, p. 5). From time to
time, Bentinho’s imaginary world (such as his conversation with the emperor to gain
support against his mother’s plan to make him a priest) overwhelms the world of
reality, thus challenging the reader to re-read his narrative for truth and meaning.
Unlike Dora, whose role as a child wife has marked the growth of David Copperfield as a
promising young man, Capitu's presence as a lover and a wife further magnifies the
narrator's insecurity in his relationship with his mother, his wife, his son, and
his best friend, not to mention his dependent, Jose Diaz, a member of the household.
Capitu is his inspiration when he needs her "daring ideas" to defy his
mother's control of his career.
On the other hand, she easily falls prey to his suspicion of her having committed
adultery with Escobar after his establishment as a lawyer. His relationship with
Capitu demonstrates his attempt to maintain total control of both her body and of
her mind. The transition from the narrative tone of excessive descriptions of
Capitu's physical attractiveness to his detective-like observations of his wife is a
testimony to not only his insecure family life, but also to the insecurity of
the "I" as a narrator, who, instead of telling his story, is threatened to
be taken over by other narratives such as the potential stories of illicit affairs between
Capitu and his best friend, Escobar. It is this fear of replacement that has driven
the narrator to stage the death scene of Escobar; the exile of Capitu; and the
untimely loss of his son, Ezekiel, to typhoid-whose resemblance to Escobar led
Bentiho to suspect Capitu of having had an affair with Escobar.
Even at the end when the narrator tries to justify his jealousy, he has to concede to the
dead and the absent others. Their story of deception becomes the central theme. The
dominant voice of "I" is gradually fading and finally missing. The
"all-important lacuna" in his narrative is eventually filled by the
subversive one of somebody else' stories.
This book has my highest recommendation for any library, public or academic, and can be
enjoyed by readers of different ages and backgrounds.
Hsaio-Hung Lee
Troy State University
Hhlee@trojan.troyst.edu
REFERENCES:
Dickens, Charles. _David Copperfield_. New York: The
Modern Library, 1950.
Lee, Hsiao-Hung.
_"Possibilities of Hidden Things": Narrative Transgression in
Victorian Fictional Autobiography._ New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 1996.
Machado de Assis, Joaquim Maria. _Dom Casmurro._ New York: Oxford
University Press, 1997.
Somerlate Barbosa, Maria Jose. _Life as an Opera:
Dom Casmurro and The_Floating_Opera in: Comparative Literature Studies._
29(3), 223-37. 1992.
Top
--------------------------
Sellars, Jane. _Charlotte Bronte_. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1998. 128 p. ISBN: 0195214390
Modern literary criticism has long sought to eliminate the study of an author’s life
from the study of their work. The public, however, clamors for this information as a
way to understand the work better. Charlotte Bronte, the author of _Jane Eyre_, is
one of the best examples of why it can be very important to have the background known for
literary works. _Jane Eyre_ has never gone out of print, and the demand for biographies
about Charlotte, and indeed her entire family, has seldom waned. Jane Sellars has
produced a well-written, copiously illustrated life of this well-loved author as
part of a new series from the British Library entitled _Writers’ Lives._
Sellars’ credentials and access to materials uniquely qualify her to write this book.
She served as director of the Bronte Parsonage Museum for seven years, and has contributed
elsewhere to the study of the Bronte family and their amazing talents. In addition, the
British Library also provided access to an outstanding collection of manuscripts, proofs,
first editions, diaries, and letters. This book serves as a fine introduction to the world
and times of Charlotte Bronte. These resources give the reader solid insight to the
author as a human being. Charlotte Bronte was a complex, talented person who experienced
tragedy, ambition, despair, and accomplishment and conveyed those experiences
through her books to her readers. She was able to write a very accessible novel in
_Jane Eyre_ that looked at the human condition accurately, if romantically, and still
ranks as one of the finest works of English literature.
While this is not a full literary biography, Sellars meets her goal of providing a
detailed introduction to Charlotte Bronte very well. Her writing style is clear and
unambiguous, and conveys an obvious affection for her subject that should communicate well
to readers. The only complaint might be that the "Further Reading" should have
been a more thorough and formal bibliography. This book belongs in high school and
undergraduate libraries and should be exceptionally welcome in public libraries as a
follow up to large generalized literary biographical sources.
Elizabeth Malia
Eastern Washington University
emalia@ewu.edu
Top
--------------------
The continuing interest in women artists which has developed over the past few years has resulted in a re-assessment of their place, significance and influence in the history and evolution of art.
Together with this interest has come a need for research tools to support such scholarship; the work reviewed here is an example of the type of secondary materials which are being published in this field.
One might question the need for a volume whose scope is as specific as this; however, the advantage of such limiting of scope is that many less well-known artists can be included who might otherwise have been left out of works of a broader nature either geographically or chronologically.
Jules Heller is Professor Emeritus of Art at Arizona State University; Nancy Heller is Associate Professor of Humanities at the Univeristy of Arts in Philadelphia.
There are approximately 1500 biographical entries of varying length in this dictionary, which covers all art forms. The entries cover women artists who were born between circa 1840 (for example, Mary Cassatt is included) and 1960, the major portion of whose careers took place in North America (i.e., Canada, the United States and Mexico). The coverage includes Mexican and Inuit artists.
Each entry in the dictionary contains a short bibliography of as few as one reference and as many as ten to fifteen for further research. The biographies have been written by individuals working in the fine arts: academics, museum directors or curators, freelance writers, art historians and in some cases, graduate students. Unfortunately, this range of backgrounds results in some unevenness in the quality of the biographies; in general, however, the entries are of a fairly high standard.
In addition to the biographies, there are three groups of black and white illustrations, numbering about 100 in total, which provide visual examples of the work of some of the women referenced in the text.
In total, this is a worthy addition to most libraries with fine arts and/or women's studies collections; the fact that it is now available in a softcover edition at an unusually low price makes it that much more attractive to libraries which must allocate funds judiciously.
Terry Skeats
Bishop's University
tskeats@ubishops.ca
Top
-------------------------------------------
This document may be circulated freely
with the following statement included in its entirety:
Copyright 1999.
This article was originally published in
_LIBRES: Library and Information Science
Electronic Journal_ (ISSN 1058-6768) March 31, 1999
Volume 9 Issue 1.
For any commercial use, or publication
(including electronic journals), you must obtain
the permission of the relevant authors.
To subscribe to LIBRES send e-mail message to
listproc@info.curtin.edu.au
with the text:
subscribe libres [your first name] [your last name]
Return to Contents Page
Return to Libres Home Page
This page is maintained by Derek Silvester, Dept of Information Studies, Curtin
University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia.
Please sent comments and suggestions to Derek@biblio.curtin.edu.au