Exchanges of fate, individuation and return of the father in “A estória do Homem do Pinguelo”

Abstract

ABSTRACT: in the short story “A estória do Homem do Pinguelo”, work published after the author's death, the enigmatic “Homem do pinguelo” mysteriously intervenes in the lives of seo Cesarino and Mourão, causing them to change fate, as one lives the luck of the other, leading both to overcome the crisis in which they found themselves and move forward in the individuation process. In addition to represent the dialogue between opposites, the narrative stages other important themes for Rosa's work, such as the myth of Faust and the problematic relationship with the Father. To carry out the analysis, literary critics such as Adélia Bezerra de Menezes, Walnice Nogueira Galvão and Davi Arrigucci Jr are mobilized, as well as thinkers from the History of Religions, Psychology and Psychoanalysis segment, such as Mircea Eliade, Joseph Campbell, Jung and Freud. The methodology, of a bibliographic and qualitative nature, proposes a hermeneutic reading of the duality that runs through the story, in addition to comparison with other works by Guimarães Rosa.