Sabbatai, Sebastião: immersion and dissimilation in A balada do falso messias
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2317-8051.cllh.2022.205107Keywords:
Sabbatai Zevi, Moacyr Scliar, Judaism, Brazil, ParodyAbstract
The short story “A balada do falso messias”, by the Brazilian Jewish writer Moacyr Scliar, tells an anachronistic version of the arrival of Jews to Rio Grande do Sul in the early 1900s, which includes the historical character of Sabbatai Zevi. Scliar’s use of anachronism, parody and non-realistic representation, as well as the amalgamation of different literary traditions and historical references, serve to problematize the inherent conflicts within Jewish Brazilian identity. His version of the titular false messiah echoes and parodies not only the historical Zevi but also Christian and Lusophone messianic figures. By introducing a series of paradoxes and contradictions, the narrative suggests a process of Jewish immersion in Brazilian society not by assimilation, but rather by seclusion and rebellion. An analysis of the story’s implicit author presents it as the result of such process.
Downloads
References
BAKHTIN, Mikhail M. The Dialogical Imagination: Four Essays. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981.
BARNAI, Jacob. Christian Messianism and the Portuguese Marranos: The Emergence of Sabbateanism in Smyrna. Jewish History, Vol. 7, Springer, Nova York, 1993, pp. 119-126.
DIANTONIO, Robert. The Brazilianization of the Yiddishkeit Tradition. Latin American Literary Review, Vol. 17, Pittsburgh, 1989, pp. 40-51.
FALBEL, Nachman. Jewish Agricultural Settlement in Brazil. Jewish History, Vol. 21. Springer, Nova York, 2007, pp. 325-340.
Brigada Militar do Rio Grande do Sul. História. Disponível em: <https://www.brigadamilitar.rs.gov.br/historia>. Acesso em: 28 mar., 2022.
HUTCHEON, Linda. A Theory of Parody: The Teachings of Twentieth-Century Art Forms. Champain-Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2000.
SCHOLEM, Gershom Gerhard. Sabbatai Ṣevi: The Mystical Messiah, 1626–1676. Princeton, Nova Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2016.
SCLIAR, Moacyr. A balada do falso messias. Contos reunidos. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 1995, pp. 266-272.
VIEIRA, Nelson H. Judaic Fiction in Brazil: To Be and Not to Be Jewish. Latin American Literary Review, Vol. 14, Pittsburgh, 1986. pp. 31-45.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Cadernos de Língua e Literatura Hebraica
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Autores que publicam nesta revista concordam com os seguintes termos:
- Autores mantém os direitos autorais e concedem à revista o direito de primeira publicação, com o trabalho simultaneamente licenciado sob a Licença Creative Commons Attribution BY-NC-SA, que permite o compartilhamento do trabalho com reconhecimento da autoria e publicação inicial nesta revista;
- Autores têm permissão e são estimulados a publicar e distribuir seu trabalho online (ex.: em repositórios institucionais ou na sua página pessoal) a qualquer ponto antes ou durante o processo editorial, já que isso pode gerar alterações produtivas, bem como aumentar o impacto e a citação do trabalho publicado.
How to Cite
Funding data
-
Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
Grant numbers 001