PHILOSOPHY AND MYSTICISM IN MEU TIO O IAUARETÊ, BY JOÃO GUIMARÃES ROSA

Abstract

The present paper aims at analyzing Meu tio o Iauaretê, short story written by João Guimarães Rosa, published in Estas Estórias, in 1969. There are two plots happening on the narrative: the main story, which is about an inner dialogue between Macuncozo and the outlander and can be related to the chronological time; and the stories narrated by the jaguar man, which are presented in a psychological perspective of time. The first part of the work is dedicated to contextualize the story in its literary aspects. Then, the analysis is focused on the main subjects that compose the narrative. Finally, the mystic aspects of the narrative are studied on the perspective of the dionysism and the ethics. The most important results of the work show that the fears felt by the character of revealing – subjects and himself – are the main reason for the slow construction of the narrative. That characteristic elucidates his metamorphosis which if it’s not said by his words, it is present on his speech. The perception of not-being is provoked by Macuncozo’s contradictions – ethnical identity, nomadism and the devil mind of the principle character. When he says he inhabits without having habits (denying any presence of belonging) he also denies his being and awakes his in-becoming. The dionysism and the ethics are present in the metamorphic ritual that celebrates the food, the aesthetic and the braveness. In conclusion, the logic that can be seen in Meu tio o Iauaretê is not an old-framed or pre-considered by extreme values logic, but a personal logic. Because of that, the story can reach a larger dimension by dealing with universal issues such as race and environment.